Spell Caught
by wingedcastielpie
Summary: "Oh, that's a nice song. 'If my roses turned to black, and the strings were never cut; then your dark words brought me back, 'cause you got me spell caught.' Romantic, very romantic. But, very dark, too." She said. "Hmm … You're a fan of dark love, aren't you?" Rose nodded as she stared at Scorpius making his entrance, a scowl was pressed at his face, as usual.
1. — Of Platforms, First Days and Arrogant

**A Witch's parchment: Hello, potterheads~ I am Jamie, by the way, and this is my first ****fanfiction**** and also my first New Generation fan****fic**.** I am kind of new to this sort of thing, so if anyone wants to correct my grammar, or give me some tips; thank you, then! I'll very much appreciate it.**

**A Disclaimer: I am simply a fan of Harry Potter. Our goddess, J.K. Rowling, made our world. And, anything you simply don't recognize, I'll take credit!**

— 1 — Of Platforms, Of First Days and The Arrogant

She never thought she'd feel so lonely in a room filled with people.

Although she was used to the idea of being left alone, at least she had her friend that time in younger years; but now that she was in an actual school filled with wizards and witches who can be better than her in everything, even making friends with strangers, she wasn't quite sure.

But the thing was, she was indeed better than everyone. Unless you rule out the friendship part, then yes, she was almost good at everything.

Her parents, Hermione Weasley and Ron Weasley were infamous for being friends with the legendary Harry Potter, who also happened to be her uncle. She was from a line of renowned heroes, who fought against the Dark Lord, Voldemort, the wizard that started the second war with an attempt to kill Harry Potter, and ended the war by accidentally killing himself when the Elder wand turned from him— so, she had to be best at everything.

— 4, 320 hours earlier —

As she walked to platform 9 ¾, her mother turned to her and gave her a kiss on the cheek. Hermione also gave Rose the copy of her _Hogwarts, A History_ — because, Rose was the only child in the family who would really appreciate it. Hugo was smart, however, he was more of Harry Potter and Ron Weasley rolled into one boy with brown hair and twinkling brown eyes. This happened because Hugo was James Potter's— Harry's first son— best friend. And, James Potter had been famous in the family for his mischievous tricks and charming smiles that could even hypnotize Molly Weasley— his grandmother on the mother's side, and Rose's grandmother on the father's side- into thinking that he could slip away in every stunt he does.

Rose was, however, the opposite. Although she never ruined the fun for the two cons and sometimes helps create the plan for smaller pranks (she's always the brain when she's around) she concentrated more on her studies (Even if that wasn't really what she wanted) and on the higher stakes— aka expectations.

Hugo and James went to the other side of Ron, her father, and started picking on Albus Severus Potter, whom she was very close with, chanting: "_Al's in Slytherin! Al's in Slytherin, _"in a singsong voice.

"I won't! I won't be in Slytherin!" Albus defended—his knuckles white while he gripped the handle of his trunk solidly.

Ginny looked at Hermione with exasperation over the boys, and Hermione gave her an amused look.

"James, give it a rest!" Ginny reprimanded.

"I only said he might be," James gave a crooked smile, and Rose could swear half the girls who were around staring shamelessly at James, blushed. James's hair fell on his eyes as he stared at his little brother lovingly and lightheartedly.

"There's nothing wrong with that. He might be in Slyth—"

Ginny chose that time to glare at her, the way Molly glared at her Uncle George whenever Molly caught him helping James and Hugo. James, also, chose that time to notice his mother and decided wisely to stop stalking.

Albus noticed Rose giving him an entertained/ pity stare. Finally catching her favorite cousin's eye, she beamed at him and went beside the boy.

"Hi," Albus said, relieved that he was finally around someone he can tolerate.

"The two teasing you, again?"Rose cheekily asked, nudging Al's shoulder lightly using her elbow.

"Could be worse. I'd never thought Hugo would idolize James, though. Hugo's a year younger than you, and yet, he knows more things about fooling people than anyone around his age."

"What do you expect from him?" Rose replied thoughtfully, searching the cobwebs above her with any signs of a spider. "The first spell he learnt was Confundo. And James was recruiting him as his sidekick since he started to walk."

Albus looked at his redheaded cousin, attentively.

"But, you can outsmart him of you want to,"

Rose warily left her eyes from the cobwebs and finally looked at Al and smiled, "Yes. I can definitely outsmart him if I want to."

The two fell silent in a comfortable silence, studying everything around them.

Observing was always the favorite hobby of the two. Together, the two studied about the whole lot.

And, together, they learned everything.

Rose noticed his uncle with an expression she knew. Although, Hugo wouldn't notice this, she knew it too well to doubt.

Melancholy.

She turned away before his uncle could see her staring.

Her father, Hugo, and Lily— The Potter's youngest member of the family— were having an animated debate about the Hogwarts houses.

"If you're not in the Gryffindor House, we'll disinherit you," stated Ron in a mocking-teasing tone, to Hugo, "but, no pressure."

"Ron!" Hermione scolded with a point of her finger. Apparently, Hugo and Lily found this funny while Rose and Albus looked serious—thinking how their parents would react if they were, indeed, directed to the Slytherin house.

The two mothers caught the expressions of their child, and declared in unison, "He doesn't mean it."

Rose and Hugo's father shifted his gaze to James, Albus, and Lily's father, and nodded to the family of three fifty feet away from them.

"Look who it is," Ron muttered.

The fog shifted and the picture became clear. The family had silvery white hair with the exemption of the woman, and the boy who stood in the middle almost looked like the exact replica of his father, except that his face looked kinder and he was three decades younger.

The father, whom Rose thought was Draco Malfoy (James told her everything he knew about him. Depending on the facts, he wasn't as nice as his face implied) caught sight of Hermione, Ron, Harry, and Ginny staring and stiffly nodded. He cut his gaze to his son, and talked to him.

"So, that's little Scorpius," Ron addressed to Rose.

'Scorpius... I wouldn't want to call my son with that name,' Rose thought, unconsciously studying the blond boy who was scowling.

"Make sure you beat him on every test, Rosie. Thank God, you inherited your mother's brains."

"Ron, for heaven's sake," chewed out Hermione, half amused half forbidding. "Don't try to turn them against each other before they've even started school!"

'Scorpius… Where did I hear that, again?' Rose contemplative thought. 'I may have heard that from one of the monster names.'

"You're right, sorry," Ron sheepishly said, but he still looked pleased. "Don't get too friendly with him, though, Rosie. Granddad Weasley would never forgive you if you married a pureblood."

Albus and Rose stared at each other and thought about Ron's words. Were they a joke?

Draco Malfoy… Why did father dislike him, anyway?

Rose was about to ask this when James came rushing, his hair wild and his eyes wide with astonishment.

"HEY!" James shouted, "Teddy's back there—" He pointed at his back where the train blew out steam. He supported his hands on his knees, and panted. "—just seen him! — _gasp_— And guess what he's— _gasp_ — doing! — _gasp_— Snogging Victoire!— _GASP_!"

Ron, Hermione, Harry and Ginny blinked in silent wonder.

Unfortunately, James Potter had always expected something extravagant. He expected the grown-ups to screamed ("What!") Or, perhaps their mouths wide open. Or, maybe something like storming at Teddy and Victoire, ripping them apart from each other in the process.

But, all he got were blinking.

James thought that, perhaps, the grownups thought of some other Teddy and other Victoire, or never even heard him talking, at all.

"Our Teddy! —_GASP_— Teddy Lupin! Snogging — _gasp_—our Victoire! Our cousin! And I asked Teddy what he was doing—"

Ginny, whose arms were folded on her chest, and her face amused said, "You interrupted them? You are so like Ron—"

"—and he said he'd come to see her off! And then he told me to go away. He's snogging her!" James insisted, his eyes were pleading for some reaction.

Instead of the grownups speaking, Lily began jumping up and down and whispered out excitedly, "Oh, it would be lovely if they got married! Teddy would really be part of the family then!"

Rose and Albus nodded and their expressions were the same as Lily's.

"He already comes round for dinner about four times a week," said Harry, a smile tainting his lips.

"Why don't we just invite him to live with us and have done with it?"

"Yeah!" said James, his eyes twinkling excitedly. "I don't mind sharing with Al —Teddy could have my room!"

"No," Harry said sternly, his eyebrows furrowed; perhaps worried about the thought of being homeless because of two little children. "You and Al will share a room only when I want the house demolished."

James smirked. Albus, however, frowned.

It was true, though. James influenced Albus easily.

Sooner or later, Albus would either turn into mini-James, or turn into a giant and wreck the house whenever he became fed up because of his older brother's banters.

Rose's uncle glanced at his watch and called, "It's nearly eleven, you'd better get on board."

At this cue, Ginny rushed to James and gave him a hug while saying, "Don't forget to give Neville our love!"

James looked sick at the place. "Mum! I can't give a professor love!"

"But, you know Neville—"

The boy sighed in relief and resorted to rolling his eyes.

"Outside, yeah, but at school, he's Professor Longbottom, isn't he? I can't walk into Herbology and give him love—"

Rose rolled her eyes, and slung her arm around Albus's right arm.

"He's as bad as Hugo," Rose muttered.

"Oh, come on," Albus replied with a smile. "He can't be—"

Out of nowhere, James kicked Albus in his calf.

"Yes. Yes, you're right." Albus grimaced and massaged his calf. Rose, in turn, glared at James, who was smirking devilishly.

"See you later, Al. Watch out for the thestrals."

Albus looked grimmer than a man spending a rainy day in Knockturn alley.

James laughed, his right hand ran through his messy hair, earning a giggle from the girls. Ginny gave him a kiss on the cheek, his father giving him a hug, and James glanced at Rose with a raised eyebrow.

With James questioning, Rose turned to Albus and gave said to him, "I should go. See you, yeah?"

Albus merely nodded, his attention shifted to somewhere else. She easily read his expression.

Rose was nervous. It will be her first time to wake up in the morning without his parents' comforting greetings; without James paying their house a visit and ruining her sleep; without Bimmy the house elf brushing her hair and muttering out praises.

Rose Weasley was nervous, but Albus Potter was panicking.

Hermione made Rose promised to owl her twice a month, instead of every week; while Ron rained Rose with kisses.

Hugo gasped in mock disgust and hid his eyes behind his hands. After the rainshower of kisses, Hugo hugged Rose tightly and made her promised to have one of those "illegal stuff" from Argus Filch's office. How Rose would even get one, she didn't know. She would probably just let James slipped through her fingers for once, and request for him to get one of those "rare stuff".

Rose thoughtfully hugged Albus sideways, and fell into step besides James, who was eyeing a girl five feet away from them.

"Thestrals are nothing to worry about," Harry told Albus. "They're gentle things, there's nothing scary about them. Anyway, you won't be going up to school in the carriages, you'll be going in the boats."

Thestrals were invisible, and yet, his parents can see them. And yet, his uncles and aunts and grandparents can see them.

And he knew why.

_"But, I thought Thestrals are invisible?" Albus questioned. "It must've been very cool to see them, though, isn't it? Mum and Dad can see them, and so was granddad and _grandmum_. Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione can see them, too, the last time we went to the museum near Hogwarts, right?"_

_"Yeah," James nodded _absentmindedly_. "Look here, Al. I _gotta_ see that Nimbus 2035! Tell Dad, okay?"_

_James never heard the answer for _he_ already sprinted up to the window and marveled at the broomstick._

Albus_ stared at his pack of fifteen _galleons_, fourteen sickles and twenty-three _knuts_. His parents gave him the money to buy whatever he wanted, for money has always been something easy for the Potters— with the family line centuries old and with Harry working as the Head Auror._

Albus_ didn't know what to do with them. He didn't want anything from Diagon Alley, and the book he and Rose has been waiting for will only be released _on_ the last week of November._

_So, Albus waited with a _jelly apple in_ a stick. And, Harry came, questioning where James was. _Albus_ replied with a point of his finger and Harry saw him, his smile lighting up his face._

_"Dad?" Albus stared at his father, studying him. Harry was relaxed, and he even looked excited. _Albus_ didn't know about the fact that Harry could cry at the moment, for he always wished to see the day where his children would go to Diagon Alley and buy for things they needed._

_Harry looked down at Albus's green eyes, and saw the curiosity filled inside them._

_"Hmm?"_

_"Why can you see _thestrals_?" Albus asked. The father's eyebrows furrowed. He wasn't expecting these kinds of questions from an eleven year old kid, but then, Harry had asked odder questions when he was eleven._

_"Seeing _thestrals_ means a grave thing." Harry tried to tell the truth to his child, not even noticing the unintended pun._

_"But, you can see them, right?"_

_"Yes. Yes, I can, Al."_

_"Please tell me why," Albus pleaded. Harry sighed. Sometimes, his son being cousins and best friends with Rose can have their cons._

_"Seeing them means seeing death," Harry said quietly. He studied Albus's face._

_The moment he was born, he saw how much Albus looked a lot like him._

_The boy had the same black messy hair, the same green expressive eyes. _Albus_ also had Harry's eyebrows, but he got his mother's lips and cheekbones. Because of their similarities, Harry can easily read Albus's expressions._

Albus_ was stunned, curious, and sad at the same time. In the family, Albus really was the child who understood the cons of wars were, while James understood the pros._

_James had the tendency to brag about Harry and the wars and the challenges he overcame. Meanwhile, Albus had seen the results of wars. There were deaths of innocent people, of loved ones, of strangers who had fought for the truth and the good._

_While Harry can see his father on James, regardless of the name, Harry can see himself on Albus._

Albus remembered that time in the Diagon Alley.

_Yes, there was nothing scary about _thestrals, he thought. _But, there was terrible about the reason behind why you can see them._

His mother approached him and kissed him on the cheek, while Lily tucked a little piece of parchment into his right hand. His little sister gave him a hug and a kiss, too.

"See you at Christmas," Ginny smiled.

"Bye, Al," Harry smiled as he hugged his son. "Don't forget Hagrid's invited you to tea next Friday. Don't mess with Peeves. Don't duel anyone till you've learned how. And don't let James wind you up."

"What if I was in Slytherin?" Albus felt his father released him from the hug, and the pair of scared green eyes stared at the other pair of comforting and understanding green eyes.

The whisper seemed like it was shouted by thousand of Quidditch fans.

Harry rested his right knee on the floor, and rested his hands on Albus's shoulders.

The two children trudged into the train, looking for compartments that weren't occupied by a teacher or a student. Each time they stuck their heads into the compartment and scanned the faces— looking for familiar ones, but to no avail— the two went from train car to train car until James heard his name called out from the third compartment in the third train car.

"James!" James stopped to a halt and made a face to Rose. Rose, however, found the situation amusing for James wore the kind of expression that only showed if he's really annoyed and embarrassed at the same time.

"Jame— oh! Who's this little thing?" Despite of James's tall structure, Rose still saw the girl that was behind James, whom apparently oblivious of James's unwillingness. The girl had silky brown hair, in shades varying from dark brown to dishwater blonde. She was also tall, her face shaped like a delicate heart, and her eyes sparkling with happiness.

"This 'little thing' you're talking about," James inquired, his teeth gritting. "—is my cousin."

Rose eyed the girl, assessing her more so. The brunette noticed Rose's eyes on her, and even if the Rose was around the age of 11 or 12, she can't help but to feel uneasy.

"Sure," Brunette laughed as if it was the most obvious thing in the world besides her name and her certain attraction to a guy who was beyond annoyed. "Cute little thing, are you?"

"I am not a thing." Rose glared, her left eyebrow raised.

_What is with this girl, anyway?_ She thought. Rose was slightly annoyed. _Calling me a 'little thing'! I am not that small, am I?_

"I'm not that small, am I?" Rose asked out loud, and James eyes were wide open with laughter. He shook his head and opened his mouth to speak, but brunette cut him off.

"Of course, you are!" Brunette (which was what she decided to call her, because she rudely didn't introduce herself, yet) looked at James, her eyes were filled with mirth (' Evil mirth, I shall say,' thought Rose) but covered her smile with the back of her hand when she saw James, now glaring openly at Brunette.

"Er, what I mean is, is that I'm just extremely tall, yeah? Don't you agree, Jamie?"

"Of course you're tall," Rose sarcastically said. She decided that she didn't like the girl. Brunette— whom she now called 'Ms Eifel'— was extremely above anyone else, or whatever Ms Eifel thought.

James snorted and laughed, highly amused. His annoyance reduced considerably to the fact that he felt proud of himself for teaching Rose Weasley, the daughter of Ron Weasley and Hermione Weasley, the formidable good-girl, the art of sarcasm. Ms Eifel smiled, but it looked more of a rubber being squeezed. Her mouth was pressed into a fat little pout.

"Of course, you must've known me. I'm Bellatrix Nightwood!" Bellatrix flipped her hair to the side.

"But, if you don't, which is obviously why you don't know my name—"

"How smart of you,"Rose muttered. James smirked and bit his tongue to keep himself from laughing.

"—then, I am Bellatrix, and you can call me Trix, and not anything else. Although, James can call me anything he wants starting from Darling to Baby."

It was now Rose's turn to look amused as James stopped smirking, his face fell and he paled very much.

When Rose turned to James and expected him to smile at her, instead all she saw was a shadow of some emotion in James's face.

"Why would they name you that?" James asked carefully, his eyes focused on Bellatrix.

Bellatrix smirked, her teeth tainted with lipstick.

"Got you intrigued, did I, James Potter?" She tossed her hair to her back and winked. "Won't you be a dear and go out with me?"

"Ridiculous," Rose muttered.

James's suspicious stare turned into a full-out fiery glare, and opened his mouth to speak when a boy with long hair tied in a ponytail called out.

"JAMES! MY JAMESIE-BOY!" The boy swerved around two blonde girls laughing at each other, and gave them a wink that made them giggle.

"See ya later, ladies," he smirked and twirled a girl around.

"How can he do that? Twirling her around when everything's so cramped up? Besides, he's only 12, and he already, er, speaks with girls two grades higher than him." Rose questioned.

James warily took a step away from Bellatrix, while Bellatrix complained.

"Why are you stepping away from me?"

"I, uh, don't like being around you, that's all. Who knows, I might get some cooties."

"Really, cooties for all—" James elbowed the boy who in return glared at James. "Yes, I love you, too."

"Whatever," Bellatrix said. "You guys go ahead without me. Perhaps, my friends are right all along!"

"All along? And what were they saying about us, m'lady?"

"You insolent dickw—"

"LANGUAGE!" Roared James, before he looked at Rose and winked. Rose simply looked amused at the exchange.

"Bellatrix is the old fart!" The boy sang.

"You— you imbecile!" While Bellatrix retorted, her eyes flashing dangerously.

"Toe Rag!"

"Being the Queen Stinky, that's all she's got—!"

"SILENCIO!"

It was to everyone's surprise that Albus Potter, who boarded the train and went into the third train to look for his cousin and into the odd situation, cried the spell that eventually kept everyone quiet. James was leaning on the corridor wall, amused and his hand poised at the end of his wand; The boy was nowhere near frustrated, while Bellatrix looked like he'll throw the lad out of the window in any minute, and Rose, with a raised eyebrow, watched the two bicker, her face reflected her curiosity and interested expression.

"Shut up, please." Albus reprimanded, his lips formed a straight thin line. Rose rolled her eyes and stuck out her tongue to say that she can't really speak at the moment.

"Now," Albus faced the annoyed girl who was trying her best to come up with the counterspell. "Please try to contain your infatuated feelings to yourself, and try not to jump on him (— he pointed at —) and do what I never would want to imagine before I actually try this awesome jinx James thought me."

"As for you, my dear brother," He said the words without any hint of sarcasm which maybe, only Albus can really pull off. "Please act like a 12-year old human being that you are and keep the cursing to minimum."

James grinned and tipped an imaginary tall hat.

"And, as for Rose, I don't have someone with me. Accompany me, please?"

Probably deciding that the conversation was getting bored, Bellatrix threw Albus her last glare and walked out of the way, her hand gripping her wand dangerously. James rolled his eyes, swished his hand and performed a sequence of swishing and pointing. The group of kids didn't notice the movement of the train, signaling that the journey has begun for another year at Hogwarts for James and the boy, while a new and strange year for Albus and Rose.

"Without even having the power of speech," Rose remarked softly. Charms had always been her best subject, and if Quidditch was a subject, she's probably getting an O for having the skill as a chaser.

"Impressed our little know-it-all, eh?" The boy with long hair commented and bowed, his eyes trained at Rose's and gave her a small wink. "I am Mr. Wood, William Wood, at your service, ma'am!"

"Will, try not to terrorize the poor kid," James lightheartedly said. "After all, who would want an eleven-year-old kid being sent back home the second she stepped into this train?"

"Ah, but my dear James, dear. That is our specialty, isn't it? Maraudering people?"

"Pure rubbish, Will!" James feigned his bewilderment. "What shall I ever do to you?"

"Dunno, probably marry me?" Will smirked, his cockiness amused Rose further more. It was as if James Potter was made to be William Wood's illegitimate twin. "I'll call as bride!"

"This is ridiculous," Albus muttered. "We already have James. Don't tell me James actually created another spawn of his that would replace him the moment he disappeared."

"HEY!" James and Will protested.

"Although, I wouldn't really reject the idea of replacing James. Can I replace for your girlfriend, too?"

James threw his robes at Will.

Albus pulled Rose away and they drifted to the other side of the train, on a look out for an empty compartment.

"What do you reckon would happen?" Albus mused, after passing through the fifth compartment of the fourth train. They were already getting tired of dragging their trunks behind them.

Rose shrugged. She felt sleepy and weak at the same time, considering that she only slept for about two hours in the morning because of her barely-contained excitement.

"I'd probably faint in the middle of this corridor if we haven't found one single bloody compartment by now."

"Sheesh, woman." Albus mused what he usually hears between Victoire and James's bickers. "Try not to kill anyone."

"Emphasis on the word 'try'."

The two snickered. No wonder the two get along so well. Not only do they almost the same bloodline, they share the same perspective of humor.

The two stayed in comfortable silence for another five minutes when Albus reached an empty compartment.

Or, so they thought.

"YES!" Albus shouted, slumping down in his seat, not even bothering on bringing his trunk into the upper head cabinet. "Finally, some time alone."

"Don't be so amused about this, Albus. It's not like—"

"Yeah, don't be so amused about this. Especially that you barged into someone's compartment. "

The two jumped, their faces went white with astonishment. In the corner of the compartment sat a stony- faced boy with a blanket over him. They didn't notice him when they entered because they practically destroyed their way into the compartment, and Rose was still pushing the trunk into the cabinet.

Well, only Albus saw what the stony-faced boy was because, unfortunately, Rose's trunk fell on top of Rose.

"Ahhh!" Rose whined, the trunk collapsed on top of her right foot. "Ow!"

"Wait, I'll move the trunk."

"Stupid."

"Don't call her stupid!"

"Well, puny then!"

"You two, shut the bloody hell up! I think I have a sprain?!"

"Ridiculous. Do I look like I care?"

"You take back what you said!"

"Shut up, uggh, you two! I can always fix this with my wand."

"Look, Albie—"

"No, you look here—"

"Calm down, PLEASE!."

"Apologize to her!"

"You wish."

"Arrogant jerk head!"

"BLOODY KNOW-IT-ALL-POOP FACE!"

"Take those words back, Scorpius Malfoy!"

Silence.

Rose snapped at Scorpius, who in turn gave her a heart-stopping hatred, confused glare. "You don't deserve saying my name."

Rose didn't want to retort back. She wasn't the type of person who would hurt for people because she cared too much. But, she wasn't letting him call her something awful or make him treat her that way.

Rose's eyes narrowed, and a cold laugh escaped from her mouth. "At least my parents' aren't hiding from the world because everyone hates you now!"

Albus remained silent, his eyes were on Scorpius the whole time, waiting for his reaction.

But, Scorpius didn't say anything. He didn't open his mouth to retort back. He didn't raise his fist to punch Rose straight in the face. He didn't pretty much do all the things the other two were expecting. Except that he turned to his back slowly, his eyes blazing with anger so intense, neither of them had to look away, and he left, the door of the compartment closed with a loud _bang_.


	2. — Tried Hiding Another You —

**A Witch's Parchment: Hello, guys. This is the chapter two of Spell Caught, and to those who have reviewed and liked this story, a huge thank you! Especially to, Moste-Potente-4ever! Such an amazing girl, she is! Anyway, I'm no brit, okay? But, I tried my best to make this fic sounds like one, because I know there are a lot of people annoyed when the characters are British, and yet they don't seem to speak like one.**

**So, about the title of this chapter, I got it from the song **_**Ghost **_**by Ella Henderson. It's an awesome song, and maybe you should listen to that song while reading. Oh, and about grammatical errors, um... ****I've ranted too much, just read chapter two and enjoy!**

— _**Jamie**_

_**A Disclaimer: I am not the person who gave birth to the whole Harry Potter world! J.K did! **_

— **2 — Tried Hiding Another You**

* * *

— 4314 hours earlier—

The journey to Hogwarts was partly an exciting and a sleepy one. Students often roamed around the corridors when the first two hours stroke. Others began making friends, and the two remained alone in their own compartment.

Sure, Rose and Albus spent their time there eating chocolate frogs, fighting over the Harry Potter card ("But, he's my father!" Albus protested. "Yes, but that doesn't mean you have to take the only Harry Potter card since the day I started collecting cards!") but the two liked the tranquil atmosphere until—

"Do you mind if I join you? My 'friends' kicked me out." Rather than waiting for a reply, the girl sat with an annoyed grunt and laid her trunk on the floor. The new person in the group was intimidating. Not only was she tall and tan, she also has strong grey eyes and curly blonde hair. Whatever happened to blondes being bimbos was burnt into ashes the second she stalked in.

"Alexandra Townsend's my name. You can call me 'Alex' or whatever you want." She said, her attention more focused on the sweets than the two who remained silent and were deciding whether they liked the company or not.

Rose Weasley was okay with her. She seemed a bit… unsettling, but that was maybe because her friends ditched her. Suddenly, she was overwhelmed with compassion and sympathy.

"Hello, Alexandra. I am Rose Weasley." She introduced. "What do you… mean by your friends ditching you?"

"Well, don't you get it?" Alexandra snapped. She was annoyed by Rose's slow intake of information. "They don't like me, they ditched me. Period. The End."

There was another moment of awkward silence.

Rose couldn't think the idea of someone that awful… But then, she remembered someone…

Alexandra rolled her eyes at Rose, and the pair of grey eyes fell on Albus, who had a book propped open on his lap, and his messy hair covered his nervous eyes.

"And, you are?"

Albus was still looking at his book, his eyes unfocused, and was clearly thinking of something else.

Rose nudged Albus right shoulder.

"Look here, nerdie. You are?" Alexandra said as she examined her nails.

"Albus. Albus Potter."

Alexandra glanced at Albus, her eyes shone with curiosity. She was aware of the Boy Who Lived, which was also known as Harry Potter, and now, here was Albus Potter, the second born of the legendary hero.

Albus sighed, knowing the glint in her eyes a little too well. He closed his book (The Burnt Willow—the second book of the Dragon Tales Series— by Sarah Heartstring, Rose's limited edition copy.) and shifted in his seat.

The moment Albus closed his book, Alexandra liked him already. Not only that he gives respect to the person he was talking to, but he seemed to be an extremely nice boy.

"I'm sorry. You said you're Alexandra Townsend, aren't you?" Albus questioned.

Alexandra propped her elbows on her knees and nodded.

"I never heard of that surname around he—"

"I'm a Muggle. Or a 'Mudblood' as what my 'friends' called me."

Rose gasped in astonishment. _Mudblood?_ Of all the words they can use to insult Alexandra, 'Mudblood' was what they chose?!

Albus remained calm, but his lips were pressed into a thin line, his eyebrows furrowed. He knew about the second wizarding war, and Voldemort's side was defeated… But, they were still teaching _children_ how to be extremely racist about the whole blood issue.

Rose eyed Alexandra with sympathy and concern, the third time she did that day. On the first day of school, and already thrown out by Purebloods. But, she also admired Alexandra's strong will. If Rose was called a Mudblood, she would probably be crying right at the moment.

"I don't need your sympathy. I can deal with myself, thank you very much." Alexandra drawled.

Although Alexandra was annoyed with Rose, she decided to know more about her instead of judging her.

The Weasley family was also famous in the wizarding world. Not only because Hermione Granger- Weasley and Ron Weasley were Harry Potter's best mates; but because the Weasleys made a name for themselves.

The once poor family became a family who lived in Grindlewart village, the sophisticated village near Godric Hollow, where Harry Potter and his family resided.

Hermione Weasley became the Senior Personnel in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement— the same department where Arthur Weasley worked. Ron Weasley became an Auror and the head correspondent of Life and Wizard Protection Agency— an agency where they create things used for protection and also distributed wizard guards from all over the world.

Of course, George Weasley was the owner of the very famous joke shop of his— and had around 500 branches from all over the world. (But, having 500 branches from all over the world gets tiring, because he keeps on apparating.)

Whilst the Potter family wasn't really a Weasley one, they were still intertwined.

Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived, the one who finished Voldemort, son of James Potter— one of the greatest Auror and Chaser— and Lily Evans Potter— the most brilliant girl in all of Hogwarts in her time, and exceptionally brave, too; for she once dueled Lord Voldemort with all the knowledge she knew about spells. Harry Potter followed his father's footsteps (however, he was the youngest seeker and Quidditch player in the last century), and although the wizarding world wanted him to be the Minister of Magic, he wanted to spend a lot of time with his family and chose to be the Head Auror, instead.

Ginevra Weasley, had once became a chaser in a famous Quidditch team (Note: Puddlemere United) but resigned and stayed home as a housewife to take care of James, Albus and Lily.

In short, the Weasley and the Potter families were the role models of success to other families.

The next two hours went by with no arguments whatsoever. Alexandra found out that Rose was a lot nicer and smarter than she thought. Who wouldn't be impressed when an eleven year old girl performed a fourth- year spell?

Rose and Albus found out that Alexandra was only in a very bad mood when she became an untouchable a whilst back. Alexandra Townsend was a girl filled with a good sense of humour and determination.

The three easily became friends, and together they ate their sweets.

"So, Quidditch houses?" Alexandra said, opening a pack of Licorice Wands. "I'd like to be in Gryffindor, or in Ravenclaw. Just not in Slytherin or Hufflepuff."

"Not in Slytherin?" Rose glanced at Albus. "Why ever not?"

"Why ever not?!" Alexandra exclaimed, her mouth filled with sweets. "Evil people came from there. Don't you know that?"

Albus hung his head in shame.

Rose, sensing the disappointment felt by Albus, said, "Yes, I do know that. But, not because the majority of the Slytherins is evil doesn't mean the whole bunch is. What about their good traits, too?"

"Really?" Albus muttered quietly.

"Oh yes," Rose nodded. "Slytherins are determined. They focus on their goals, and never give up until they reached perfection. They are independent, and realistic and charming… don't you think so, Albus?"

Albus had a small smile in his lips.

"Maybe… I still don't know about the charming part, though. "

Rose laughed.

Alexandra didn't think that Slytherins are charming. Cunning? Yes. Rude? Yes. Vile? ? No.

Alexandra envied Rose and Albus. That she knew when she first saw the two of them laughing with tears in their eyes. They were very comfortable around each other, and they the best of friends, even if they were already cousins.

Alexandra looked down at her wand. The thing was… She was not a Muggle. Her father was a Squib— a wizard without almost any magic inside him. Her mother was a Muggle who barely knew about the wizarding world. She was the first child of the family, and they used to be four; but, they were only three now… One less in the family.

Alexandra always loved the idea of being close to someone who would understand her, and never judge her parents for the way they are.

Her uncle was a Slytherin, and so was her aunt. Her cousins were Ravenclaws and Slytherins, too. And, even if the war has ended, they were still against Squibs and half-bloods and Muggles.

That was why she disliked Slytherins so much. That was why she was envious of Rose and Albus' s friendship. Because, she never had one as strong as what they had.

With a deep sigh, she looked up and saw Albus telling a story about the time when his father rode the Hippogriff for the first time.

"And then, Draco Malfoy was all 'Oh, rubbish. I can do that, too!' So he approached Buckbeak and said, 'I bet you're not dangerous at all, are you? You great ugly brute!'"

"Oh, no. He didn't? " Rose said, her mouth was stretched into a big smile. She knew what was coming.

"Oh, but he did. What he didn't know was—"

"They never liked to be insulted." Albus and Rose said in unison.

"So he kicked Draco, didn't he?" Rose mused.

"Yes."

Alexandra laughed.

"He's as dumb as Rita Skeeter." Alexandra mused.

Albus and Rose looked at each other, for they both knew the story about Hermione Granger and Rita Skeeter. The three laughed so hard, they can barely breathe.

After the laughter, Rose asked, "Was he hurt?"

Alexandra glared at Rose whilst Albus raised his eyebrows.

"Who cares? It a good story, that's all it is." Alexandra answered.

Rose was shocked by Alexandra's apathy. Even though she didn't show it, she still felt disappointed about how people treat him.

She only asked that because of a certain Malfoy…

"I would be going to the restroom, okay?" Rose stood up, and waited for the reply.

Albus merely nodded and smiled at Rose, whilst Alexandra flashed Rose a thumbs up, since she can't speak due to the chocolate chip biscuit her mother baked for her.

* * *

The corridor was empty in the sixth train car. There weren't any first- years around and only sixth or seventh years were in the train car.

The set- up might be unsettling and lonely for others, but not to Scorpius Malfoy.

_ 'Scorpius, never befriend people who would betray you.'_

_ 'Scorpius, do what your heart tells you.'_

_ 'Astoria...'_

_ 'But, what if he likes someone—'_

_ 'He wouldn't like 'someone' until I said so.'_

_ 'Draco… He needs his friends.'_

_ '… Yes, but only his _friends_. I don't need another thing to worry about.'_

The conversation echoed in his mind as open his eyes to look outside the window and saw the countryside. It was probably around 5: 30 pm in Muggle time, when a boy with long hair entered the room and asked, "May I sit here? My friends are twats. They said they wanted to be in Hufflepuff, or worse, in Gryffindor. Wankers."

Scorpius nodded to the couch in front of him.

He parked his trunk by the door, and sat down, snuggling beside the window.

Silence.

"You're not much of a talker, are you?" The boy asked.

Scorpius was annoyed a little. Yes, he wasn't a talker. Was that supposed to be illegal?

He nodded, and glanced out of the window, again.

"Why are you alone? Don't you have friends? I am Grant Yaxley, by the way—"

Just as he was about to finish his sentence, a prefect strolled by and asked if everything was okay.

"Why are you here? In this train car, I mean." The prefect— a girl with black hair tied in a ponytail— asked again.

"Dunno, ask the white man." Grant said, his finger absent-mindedly twirling his wand with his middle finger.

The girl turned to Scorpius.

"No seats left."

"Okay… Oh, and we're nearing Hogwarts. Make sure you wore your robes before we stop near Hogsmeade."

"Yeah, sure. Whatever." Grant said. It was obvious that he didn't care about the conversation enough to actually respond properly.

The prefect glanced at Grant suspiciously.

'_Yes,_' Scorpius thought. '_I don't like him, too.'_

Scorpius grabbed his robes from inside his trunk, and folded his blanket and placed it into the trunk. He was closing it when Grant said, "Those rubbish prefects. A Gryffindor, too. Anyway, I'm going to the find the trolley."

And he left without Scorpius' answer.

He was removing the top button of his robe when someone knocked on the compartment door. He turned his head and expected Grant to barge in, but instead, he saw a girl around his age.

It was that Rose girl his dad was talking about. He narrowed his eyes with distrust.

"Hello," Rose muttered. She looked down at her shoes, and awkwardly arranged something on her back. "Um, I'm sorry if I am—"

"Hello." Scorpius' answer was curt. He continued doing his button business when he heard her clear her throat. He was about to look at her again, but decided against it.

"Scorpius, I—" Rose tucked a loose strand of her hair behind her ear and cleared her throat again. "I am Rose. Rose Weasley. And, er , I'm sorry about a while ago."

_'_Just say sorry. Besides, he got the compartment, first. We just barged in and threw him out._' She winced at the thought. What would her mother say to her when she knew about her lack of manners? '_Right. I should really go apologise.'

_ She was in her torturing herself internally when she bumped into something hard. _

_ Jumping, she saw an old lady pushing a cart filled with sweets. _

_ "I'm sorry!" She instinctively brought out her hands. The old lady beamed at her and said, "It's alright, dear. Anything for you, perhaps?" _

_ "I, uh…" Rose shyly looked at all the contents of the cart, but she didn't find any treacle tarts. Sighing, she found a strange sort of cake shaped like a cauldron and bought two._

_ "I'd like these… Cauldron sort, please."_

_ The old lady beamed at her and said, "Nine knuts, dear."_

_ "Thank you, Madame—" Rose asked out of respect._

_ "Oh," The old lady giggled and gave Rose the two cakes. "Nobody called me Madame before. Madame Forte will do, dear."_

_ "Well, thank you, Madame Forte."_

_ Madame Forte pushed her cart in the opposite direction from where Rose was heading. _

_ "But, before you go dear," She called out. "I have an advice for you."_

_ Rose listened, curious about what the old lady was talking about._

_ "I saw that, the li'l feud with that fine boy. Now, apologise to the poor boy, will you? " Madame Forte giggled as Rose paled. She, then, patted the girl's shoulder and knocked on the door of compartment beside them that occupied three fourth years._

_ She swore she heard her mother's voice saying those words, instead of Madame's._

_ Sighing, she held the cakes in her hand, gingerly cradling them in her hands. _

_ Yes, she wasn't that type of person who would go around insulting people, but she wasn't the type of person who would go for a one-on-one confrontation, either._

_ "Why did I mention his name like a curse, again?" She muttered. Her conscience was killing her. _

_ 'Just apologise, lower your pride a little.' _Pride?_ She scoffed. _

_ 'Fine, you may not value your pride like any normal wizard or witch does, but it is not an excuse to not apologise to the poor boy.' Hermione's voice echoed in her mind._

_ "Mum…Shut up." Grumbling, she started looking for the said boy._

"What?" Scorpius asked, his eyes wide with disbelief.

Rose blushed. She bit her lip, and brought out the two Cauldron cakes she bought a while ago.

"I'm sorry," Rose breathed. "Like, _really _sorry. I— We didn't mean to…"

And the boy tuned her out.

_'She should really stop apologising. She already said the bloody word thrice, or four times!' _He thought.

"So… I'm _really _sorry…" Rose held out her hands and he saw two sweets.

Scorpius focused on the cakes that she was holding.

"I don't want it. You can keep it, but thanks, anyway."

Rose was literally stuck in the middle of two choices. She fiddled with the cauldron cakes. Sighing, she knew now that she really hated choosing. She was exceptionally troubled.

Scorpius told her to go, so the guy might dislike her, a lot.

But then, he looked so lonely, and a few apology cakes would probably help, right? She just wanted to show how sorry she was….

Scorpius eyed Rose on the edge of his vision. She was quite a petite girl. Rose had a wild red curly hair, and her eyes were brown, the color of a dried leaf when the fall came. She was already wearing her robes. She's such a little goody-two-shoes.

These were what Scorpius saw in her profile. He was amused at the difficulty she was experiencing. He only told her to go away— that was all. There was nothing hard about that. In fact, he can't wrap his head around Rose. She was strange, almost comical. This girl just acted like she hated him, and now, here she was apologising like a little baby.

His eyes drifted to her hands. They were holding two small boxes of Cauldron cakes. He barely ate sweets because his father didn't want him to have his son's teeth decaying. But sometimes, his mother would be back home with the ingredients of the sweets and bakes them. So, he liked the cakes— in fact, it was his favourite.

_'Be careful of that family over there, Scorpius, you heard me? Especially that little red-haired Rose over there.'_

_ 'Oh, Draco… Don't make the two compete against each other, silly. It's only his first day.'_

_ 'Just… Just, I want you to never keep your guard down, alright?'_

_ 'Yes, Father.'_

"Uh..." Rose bit her lip.

'_Think, Rose, think.'_ She thought. '_Heart over head? Or, head over heart? Head over heart of heart over head? What?'_

Rose was standing awkwardly, trying her best to decide. She would probably take another five minutes of deciding if it weren't for the huge guy walking to the compartment. '_Screw this. Give, then!'_

"I'm just going to leave this here, okay?" Rose places the two Cauldron cakes on the seat beside Scorpius who was trying his best not to show any emotion.

"Right, um… See you!" Rose said, as she turned around and rushed off.

"Hey, White man. You're not going to wear your robes, aren't— Cauldron cakes!" Rose heard the huge first year boy said. She was walking slowly, her left ear trained towards the direction of the compartment.

In the process of eavesdropping, she just realised another thing that she should be good at— staring at where you would go whilst walking— because right at that moment, she tripped.

"Eh?!"Rose exclaimed.

"Can I have it? Oh, rubbish. Pass me one, will you?" She heard.

There was no reply from Scorpius.

Sighing, Rose stood up and stalked away from the door of the compartment when she heard a faint 'No.'

Looking back, she thought she saw Scorpius holding the cakes, but that must've been her imagination.

She went back to her friends, her mind still drifting around— recounting on what had happened.

"We better wear our robes. The Gryffindor prefect passed a whilst ago and said we're approaching." Albus said. He was looking for his robes in his trunk whilst Alexandra was doing the same thing. Rose… She was already wearing hers.

The three helped each other with the trunks. Finally, Rose conjured a spell to make them float a feet from the ground and made them follow the trio.

"First years, 'ere! First years!" A giant voice said.

Rose and Albus stared at each other and said, "Hagrid!"

The two ran off laughing, beckoning for Alexandra to follow them.

"Albus! Rose! Excited for yer new year, eh?" Hagrid cheerily said, grunting as he helped the three get on the boat.

"And, who might ye be?" Alexandra flushed.

"I am Alexandra Townsend, sir." She stammered.

"Ah…" Hagrid replied, nodding casually.

"She's our friend." Rose smiled, slinging her right arm around Alexandra's left.

"Welcome to Hogwarts, then, for the three of ye!"

The three were chatting animatedly when they heard a voice saying, "Do you mind if I come with you?"

The three looked up, laughter still etched in their faces, but they certainly weren't laughing anymore when they saw the person who asked.

"Of course, we do—" Rose elbowed Albus.

"We don't." Rose smiled. "Um… Scorpius Malfoy, Albus Potter. Albus Potter, Scorpius Malfoy."

The two nodded at each other, their eyes assessing.

"And, Alexandra Townsend, Scorpius Malfoy. Scorpius Malfoy, Alexandra Townsend."

Alexandra suspiciously extended her hand out, and Scorpius stared at it for a whilst, when he realised that Alexandra wanted to do the 'Muggle handshake'.

So, he awkwardly grasped Alexandra's hand and didn't know what to do with it. He knew his grandfather would start shouting at him for holding hands with 'such lowly creatures', but somehow, he felt free. What his grandfather didn't know can't hurt him.

Although… What would his father and mother say?

It looked ridiculous. A boy and a girl staring at the joint hands of two people who would less likely wanted to be friends with each other— it was not the sight you would see everyday.

The boat rocked lazily through the lake, and two meters away, a pair of twins raised their hands for a high- five. Five meters away, four teenagers were laughing loudly.

Rose broke her gaze at the hands and sheepishly looked up. Albus had his head cocked to his left shoulder, his hands playing with his wand. She tensed— looking at Albus's face again, but much to Rose's surprise, he was smirking.

Albus? Albus and smirking?

Rose shook her head, a smile forming her lips.

"Uh," Scorpius pulled his hand, but Alexandra was holding his hand too hard.

"Shake." Alexandra said. He looked up, his eyes filled with confusion.

"Um…" Alexandra startled the group with her laughter. "Not that way, you dolt."

Apparently, Scorpius was swinging it from right to left. Albus and Rose were staring blankly at Alexandra.

"What?" Rose asked.

"You don't know how to shake hands? What, have you been living in an invisible world, or something?"

No one laughed.

Frowning, Alexandra muttered, "Tough crowd."

Scorpius quickly disentangled his hand from Alexandra's and rubbed the nape of his neck, embarrassed.

"Wow, LOOK!" Rose, Albus, Scorpius and Alexandra faced a girl with blonde hair who was in the boat five feet away from them. She was pointing towards behind them, and the four decided to look at what she was pointing.

A huge castle made out of stone was perched at the top of a very high mountain. The blinking lights seen from the windows were like stars in the vast evening sky. The towers were so high they can barely see the flags, and they saw a small opening into the mountain, the walls beside it were filled with hanging ivy.

"I'd mind the heads, if I were yeh." Hagrid shouted. The curtain divided and led the boats to a wide opening of a cave. The students were awestruck with wonder.

Silently, the boats moved in two lines through the tunnel. Everyone was silent, enjoying the little amusement park theme- sort of ride.

The eleven-year-olds were beaming when the huge doors were opened and the tall ceiling, the staircases and the warm atmosphere welcomed them.

"Lovely place," Alexandra said.

Albus and Rose nodded. The two had, at least, visited Hogwarts for the fifth time; but, it was still different to actually live in the castle.

However, the fun didn't last. There was a plump woman around the age of her late 70s was waiting for them, a frown was on her face. She had short curly hair, her clothes were all grey, and she had a ridiculous hat made out of what looked like a dirty pink material.

But what struck the most was her uncanny resemblance to a toad.

"What are you staring at, dears?" She sneered. "Cat got your tongue?"

"More like a toad," Rose mumbled to Albus, but with the uncomfortable silence surrounding them, a few students heard her.

Albus, Alexandra, Scorpius and the blonde girl a whilst ago had to physically restrain themselves from laughing too much.

"First years, er, Ms. Dolores Umbridge… Will escort you to the Great Hall."

Hagrid cheerily waved goodbye to the horrified students.

"Right, don't expect me to be nice to you, you cakes. Do you understand?" They nodded, whilst Rose crossed her arms in front of her chest.

The old woman complained loudly when they climbed a steep staircase. The paintings were either laughing or glaring at her, and the two women in paintings kept on saying rude things to her.

But what set off Dolores' s patience was when a ghost with red hair and twinkling brown eyes came howling a welcome song.

"Oh—! Ms. 'dear' Dolores! How's the Umbitch—er, I mean— Umbridge going?"

Albus and Rose were literally gasping for breath, trying their best to stop laughing. The eleven-years-old laughed so much, tears were in their eyes.

"Uncle-Uncle Fred!" The two blurted.

"Hello, Rosie and Albus! Is Ms. Weensy Dolores screaming her toadly face off?" The crowd laughed.

"Fred! Get out of here, you dirty blood-traitor!"

"Blah, blah, blah. As soon as I get you out of here. You're making this place sounds worse than George's armpit."

"DO YOU RECKON I LIKE BEING HERE! THAT MCGONAGALL CAT TEACHER OF YOURS. THAT LOWLY CAT, ALWAYS STICKING HER NOSE TO OTHER—"

"Someone called?" The first years turned around and saw an old lady, her salt-and-pepper hair tucked in a bun under a witch's hat. Her green, black and gold robe fluttered smoothly around her. Her body was poised in a stern manner, her head held high and her eyes narrowed. The spectacles around her eyes gleamed menacingly. "What was that, Dolores?"

"Nothing, _professor_."

The first years didn't know where to look. An old man came and halted at attention. Fred was smirking by the ceiling.

"What is it, Minerva?"

Headmistress McGonagall didn't address his presence; but instead, she was staring at Dolores with such contempt in her eyes.

"Go to the Great Hall, first years."

— 4311 hours earlier —

Music filled their ears, the warmth of the dining hall washed over them, and applause was heard from everywhere. Rose felt herself stiffen.

Albus was calm, his eyes trained ahead. He barely saw the lights from above, and he barely saw those people judging him. All he saw was the stool in front of everyone. This is it. His destiny was about to be determined.

Alexandra was smiling. 'I won't be a Slytherin. Me, a Slytherin? I won't be one.'

She held her head high, but she felt the eyes of everyone around her. 'I can't be.'

Scorpius... It was evident to everyone around that he was Draco Malfoy's son, Lucius Malfoy—a Death Eater's grandson. A Pureblood. At that time, when you are related to a death eater, it was as if you _are_ the death eater.

But, he didn't care. He shouldn't.

And, Rose. Rose was nervous.

This was her first day. Another first day. But, this will be different. She felt it. Or, if it wasn't—she'll make it different.

_"Everyone, this is Rose Nymphadora Weasley. Go ahead, say hi." _

_ "Hello." Rose, who was eight years old, wore a yellow dress with green leaves that looked like a belt. She had her hands tucked inside the pockets of her dress. _

_ "What was your name again?" A big, burly boy with brown curly hair snarled. "Nymphadora? Rose? What kind of name is that?"_

_ Those children who weren't listening were now silent, their eyes staring curiously at Rose. _

_ Laughing, the boy whirled around and said in a whiny voice, "Aww, little flower. Ow, Mummy! I touched the pickle, owie!"_

_ "Children—" The teacher started. "—be quiet."_

_ "Rosie, dosey, got her hair in a pony. What happened to it, huh?"_

_ "Children—!" The teacher kneeled down in front of Rose. "I'm sorry… They're always like that, Rose. Won't you sit down there near the window?"_

_ Rose looked down._

* * *

_ 'Just… listen to the teacher, okay?'_

_ 'But, Mummy—'_

_ 'You'll be fine. You're the abominable Rose Weasley, no one can even defeat you in chess, right?'_

_ 'Mum—'_

_ 'Hey. You'll be fine. I thought you everything you know, woman.'_

_ 'Your Mum's right.' Ron appeared behind Hermione, hugging her from behind. ''Slay 'em!' That is your motto, right? Together with Albus, eh?'_

_ Rose giggled._

_ 'Now,' Ron went around Hermione. 'if someone bullied my little Rose, tell me or your Mummy or your Uncle Harry about this big ol' bully, okay?'_

* * *

_ "Hello," Rose went beside a girl with long flowing locks of hair. She had a huge bow in her head, so big it was a half of her head. Her eyes were the unnatural shade of blue, and instead of a pair of earrings, she only had one earring that looked suspiciously a lot like a banana peeling. _

_ "Hi, Rose. You have such a nice name." She whispered. "Don't you think the Garkyles like the sunlight?"_

_ "Thank yo—The what?" _

_ "Garkyles. You know those fluttering noises you hear at night? Those are Garkyles."_

_ "Oh, crickets, you mean?" _

_ "No. Garkyles."_

_ "So, they are different from crickets?"_

_ "Yes," she nodded. "That's what Mum told me."_

_ "Oh… Your Mum must be smart." Rose expected the girl to answer her, but instead:_

_ "Garkyles, those are the fluttering noises at night. Do they like sunlight? Or, the rain?"_

_ "Well, are they heard when it's daylight?"_

_ The girl looked at Rose and said, "Let's see. Maybe we'll see them." _

_ Rose liked the girl already. Garkyles— they might be crickets, but this girl has an imagination. She didn't care about what other people think. She didn't care if she was wrong or right. She didn't care if it would danger her. And, she was the nicest person in the group. The strangest, too, but Rose was a strange girl, so it didn't really matter._

_ Rose smiled at the girl and nodded._

_ The next day of school went like that. Teasing, bullying, pushing and shoving… But, that didn't matter to her. At least she had Lykaxel. At least she learned a lot of things— ideal or real. _

_ But, it went a lot worse when Lykaxel stopped going to school. Her parents had decided to go away for a few years in this odd village, and since no one would take care of Lykaxel and her twin brothers, the three would be going with their parents. _

_ "You'll remember me, would you? Just like how Tumblebees remember Tweedledumns, right?"_

_ "I will. I wouldn't want to forget you. Tweedletees together, are we?"_

_ "Yes. Yes, tweedletees. That we are."_

_ Rose laughed and gave Lykaxel a hug. She was never a physical type of person, but this wouldn't stop her from hugging her and crying. In the short time that the two shared, Rose felt happiness. _

_ The next two years in the Muggle school was a living hell for her. Rose never told her parents or to anyone except for Albus. Rose never bothered to tell them because they had enough problems of their own. Besides, they can't do anything about it. Rose promised to Lykaxel that she would wait for her. So, saying that she was being bullied for her hair, and her height, and her name or that she was weird. _

_ She kept her promise, even if she was being hurt. She never showed who she really was to anyone, but to Lykaxel and to Albus— and she would like to keep it that way. The less people would know, the less people can hurt her. All she had to do was to shield herself. _

_ So, she kept to herself. _

_ She would let others shadow her, but as long as no one can see what she really was underneath... She will be fine._

* * *

They all piled in front of the staff table and the houses. The Sorting was a very important ceremony where a student will be sorted to four different houses: Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin. The student will be taking classes with their house members or sit with them in lunch period. Their points will add up to their House points and if any rule- breaking occurs, there will be deduction from their House points.

The students whisper among themselves as they waited for the Headmistress to come. There was quite a small fight going on in between two Slytherins, a Ravenclaw, James Potter and William Wood. The fight somehow included a transfigured shoe, a broken wand and a wounded person. The students started playing bets on who would win, when McGonagall came and made a full body-bind on the five.

"Now," the old lady cleared her throat. "Welcome to Hogwarts, first- years. You will undergo a very important ceremony. The Sorting Hat will be placed on your heads, and it will determine which your House will be. You will perform this ceremony in front of the whole school."

"The whole school?" Alexandra stammered. She looked at the hat and asked, "How would the hat know which house will be fit?"

"George told me that they hold this test, or something. I don't know." Albus nonchalantly said.

Rose heard the exchange between Alexandra and her cousin.

Frowning, she said to herself, '_I'll be fine. I always do_.'

Why didn't her mother and father say anything about it? Or any of her cousins?

_'Mum, what is the sorting again? How does it goes?'_

_Rose asked, her head in between the two front seats of the Muggle car the Ministry let the family borrow._

_ 'Rose, we told you about this before. You are going to enter Hogwarts and learn everything first hand. You know about that, right?'_

_ Rose knew it was a hopeless case, but she was determined. _

_ 'Dad—'_

_ 'I am out of that topic, please don't kill me.' Ron, who always wanted to tell his children about the Sorting ceremony, stuttered. His eyes looked at Rose through the mirror and winked. _

_ Hugo was suddenly interested in the conversation. _

_ 'Mum,' he said._

_ 'Yes, Hugo?'_

_ 'You are literally the worst control freak I've encountered since Grandmum.'_

_ The three in the car laughed, whilst Hermione grumbled. _

The Potter family and the Weasley family agreed that the 1st years wouldn't know anything about what they will encounter to Hogwarts just for the sake of enjoying Hogwarts' finest delicacies.

"They… A test?" She said, having herself snapped out of her daydreaming. Of all the activities that can start a year— does it really have to be a test of wits?

Sure, she can be such a nerd sometimes, but that didn't mean that she liked dealing with facts or tests. Crossing her arms, she looked up to the ceiling and sighed. The ceiling was bewitched into what the sky outside looked like so she can freely point out the stars and the constellations.

She started doing just that when screams filling the Great Hall. About thirty ghosts drifted through the back wall and greeted. Milky white and translucent, the ghosts expressions varied from angry to pleased.

A fat ghost shrieked, "The name of the Lord is more important than this sorcery you're speaking of!"

"Oh, dear Delilah, we talked about this before." a long nosed ghost replied, his voice sad and depressing.

"Welcome, New Students!" A ghost proclaimed. "I hope to see you in Hufflepuff! So that, lots of you wouldn't cause any trouble for our poor Umbridge here."

The crowd shifted in their seats and stared at Dolores Umbridge, who was petting Mrs. Norris III.

She was sniffing, her mouth shut as if it was glued and a huge bottle of cough drops was on the table Argus Filch and she shared.

"Bloody hell," muttered a ghost who had ruffles around his neck. "Poor lady, there. Good thing Sir Fred here pissed the woman off that she almost turned mad with craziness."

Fred feigned his crying.

"Bless your soul, Fred." A beautiful ghost lady with a necklace filled with rubies across her neck, said, her eyes narrowing. "That woman. Did you know—"

"Please, noble ladies and gentlemen, the Sorting is about to begin."

And then, Professor Neville stepped forward and placed an old, frayed hat, the crease in between the point and the hole opened wide.

The first years gasped.

_I am older than what you may think, _

_ But never ever underestimate._

_ The four founders made me— a wise old cap!_

_ But, I will eat myself if you find anything wiser than me! _

_ The sorting begins for a new year in Hogwarts;_

_ After the ages of darkness, here is your home standing tall;_

_ Through the years of odd euphoria and broken hearts, _

_ Let me tell this malevolent story to all._

_ The Dark Lord was known by many as the killer of our heroes_

_ And he made a world for himself that was filled with sorrows._

_ He was smart, he was cunning, though he was never right._

_ For he saw love as just another plight._

_ I sang a song before and advised all to stay humble_

_ But praises for him, some still mumbled;_

_ Unity and love was the answer to his downfall_

_ And to Azkaban, his supporters followed._

_ There once was a boy named Harry Potter_

_ And Lord Voldemort killed his parents who had barely uttered._

_ But, he used his mother's love as a shield against You- Know- Who_

_ Then the Horcruxes were destroyed, and the Deathly Hollows, too._

_ But the war would be lost if it weren't for the four houses_

_ Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin_

_ Each has an animal that symbolizes_

_ So I'll describe the houses where you might be in._

_ Gryffindors, the daring, the brave and the courageous._

_ Maroon and gold— those are their colours._

_ Although I am older and stinker than your grandfather's pumpkin juice, _

_ Believe me when I say, "Aye! The Gryffindors— their hearts beat loudly like a lion's roar!"_

_ Hufflepuffs, the kind, the loyal and hardworking._

_ Never let their neatness keep you unguarded_

_ For they are different, though they might call the evil some things. _

_ Yellow and wood, the colours of the warranted._

_ Ravenclaws, the blue and bronze eagles that soar far above,_

_ Where the knowledge and wisdom they have aren't average._

_ Wit and learning are what they are known best, _

_ So never upset them, for their revenge is nasty and rather wicked._

_ Last, but not always the least, the pride of the green and silver Slytherins_

_ Where they are cunning and blunt-headed_

_ And these aren't exactly the qualities of the mean_

_ But, vision and goals they have and those they use to achieve their ends. _

_ Alas, after the wars and bloodsheds, still put me on your heads. _

_ So that I may decide where you may go._

_ For I can read your soul and you can never hide—_

_ Any secrets? Nah, I am the Sorting Hat, though. _

The Sorting Hat bowed as everyone clapped. James Potter, who shamelessly stepped on the bench, shouted, "Harry Potter is the coolest dad, ever!" And then, the boy turned to a fifth year beside him and said, "Five Galleons, mate."

The fifth year was embarrassed by the attention. He reluctantly handed his Galleons to an enthusiastic James.

The Grand Hall burst into laughter.

"As I was saying," Headmistress McGonagall cleared her throat, looking at the cheering boy over her spectacles. "Thank you, Sorting Hat, for the beautiful song. Now, please start the ceremony."

Trembling, Rose looked around wildly whilst Professor Neville Longbottom started calling for names.

"Adelte, John."

A boy with blonde locks and a nose too big for his face shakily started climbing through the small stairs and held the Sorting Hat whilst he sat down. Then, he placed the hat on his head, and it covered his face. There was silence over the Hall until the Sorting Hat announced— "GRYFFINDOR!"

The Gryffindor table cheered, whistled and howled whilst the Slytherin table booed. Even after the war, there was still the feud between the two houses.

"Bones, Eva!" A mousey girl stepped out of line and placed the hat on her head as she sat down on the stool.

"Hmm… HUFFLEPUFF! "

The Hufflepuff applauded, happy for the first Hufflepuff.

"Finch-Fletchley Jonathan!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!" The said house cheered.

The Ravenclaw clapped with grace. They looked like royalties next to the Gryffindors who were... howling.

The Slytherin house didn't like their odds of having students.

"Lake, Donna!"… "GRYFFINDOR!"… "Merryland, Geena!"… "HUFFLEPUFF!"… "Oaker, Riley!" … "HUFFLEPUFF!"… "Quill, Peter!" … "GRYFFINDOR!"

"Scamander, Lorcan!"… "RAVENCLAW!"… "Scamander, Lysander!"… "RAVENCLAW!"

The Slytherins started booing for every student until…

"Malfoy, Scorpius! "

The Slytherins shut up, whilst everyone looked up, eyes shining with interest.

"Scorpius Malfoy… Ah, I know where you will do well… I remember your father—" the Sorting Hat paused. "You're not your father? Oh, yes. The taste of wanting to prove yourself right. Oh well, you said so… SLYTHERIN! "

The students clapped politely. Scorpius Malfoy was a Slytherin, but he wasn't his father. That was enough to say that maybe, this kid had more than what surnames carry.

The Slytherin table howled and banged their fists on the table.

Professor McGonagall looked like she would hex the aforementioned house for being noisy and for their lack of manners.

A few names were called. There was the blonde girl a whilst ago who was called for Gryffindor, two twins— one in Ravenclaw and the other one in Hufflepuff, a Mcmillan one to Gryffindor.

By now, the Slytherins were bored and started throwing things to each other when— "Potter, Albus!"

Rose looked up, and she heard the whole Hall went unusually quiet. Albus, with an ease, picked up the Hat and sat down on the stool. He calmly placed the Hat on his head.

"Ahh, a Potter," The Sorting Hat said. "I remember your dad saying— what?"

Albus tensed, his fingers turning white as he clutched for his stool.

"That house? Oh… Gryffindor can do you good, then. But all this ability... Hmm, yes, I agree. Your father said it is fine? Oh… But, not a bad mind…Fine then, SLYTHERIN!"

There was general shock that went through the whole crowd.

Potter? A Slytherin? What kind of comical joke was Fate pulling?

The Slytherin table didn't howl for once, the Hufflepuff table clapped politely, and they can't quite process what just happened because they were too confused. The Ravenclaws whispered among themselves, whilst the Gryffindor table was unusually calm.

James Potter hated it. Who are they to do that to his brother? Although he was upset that Albus wasn't a Gryffindor, he still loved Albus enough to stand up on his bench and shouted, "THAT'S MY BROTHER! SLAYING WITH STYLE! GO ALBUS!"

Rose Weasley hated all of this tension. So what if Albus was a Slytherin? He was still the same quiet, logical and sensible Albus, right? Rose gripped her wand inside her robes, her eyes fuming with anger.

She looked like she would hex the five meter radius around her to oblivion.

So when James Potter stood up and shouted, "THAT'S MY BROTHER! SLAYING WITH STYLE! GO ALBUS!" Rose looked like she would cry with tears of joy. She felt so proud of James and how he stood up for Albus.

Speaking of Albus, he was still sitting on his chair, stunned at James' s proclamation.

"He's almost exactly like his old namesake, ya know?" the Sorting Hat said.

"GO ALBUS!" Rose stuttered. She can barely move her tongue when everyone stared at her.

'_Stop speaking_,' she thought. '_Oh, my God. Stop speaking now, shut up. This is embarrassing._'

But, no. Albus needs support now. What was wrong with supporting, right?

"SLAY 'EM ALL!" she shouted. If there was anything she can use to encourage him, it would be their motto.

The people were either staring, or rolling their eyes. But when Victoire, Fred Weasley II, Molly Weasley, Dominique and Louis stood up and started shouting encouragements, the students and teachers looked at them with happy eyes. They were all applauding, and Albus never felt alone and judged anymore.

'_These children,'_ Professor McGonagall thought _'Only those people can make these kinds of children.'_

Laughing, Albus removed the hat from his head and started towards the Slytherin table where the students glared and observed him. He sat near the front, and the students voluntarily made a space for him to sit on.

Moving on, Professor Neville, who was smiling widely called for names.

"Torrent, Katrine"… "RAVENCLAW!"… "Townsend, Alexandra!"

It wasn't the unusual silence for all, but to Rose, it was one. To others, the silence they can hear was the typical silence of an unknown girl in the wizarding world.

Alexandra had her eyes wide open the whole time, unnerving yet nervous. Rose made an eye contact with Alexandra and Rose smiled her biggest smile.

"RAVENCLAW!"

Alexandra sighed, relief washing over her. She stood up and carried herself with pride.

'_I am not a Slytherin. I am a Ravenclaw._' She thought.

"Valley, Alia!" A girl with straight hair and an anxious face came forward… "GRYFFINDOR!"

"Weasley, Rose!" She didn't feel nervous. Maybe she was, but she felt numb. Her hands were shaking and they were freezing. She felt dazed when she sat down on the stool, and felt the Hat on her head.

It was like the calm before the storm for her. Only then did she feel the situation weighing on her. Her eyes scanned through the whole Hall, looking for encouraging smiles— mostly from the Gryffindor table, but she saw Albus. Sometimes, Albus was the only one who can calm her.

But, then beside him, he saw Scorpius.

"Aah… Fine boy, isn't he?"

"Wh- What?"

The Sorting Hat chuckled. "You can't hide anything from me, child."

Rose blushed, her face as red as her hair. The Sorting Hat suspected her of taking a liking on Scorpius. She was just staring, that was all!

"Although, I wouldn't doubt if this relationship actually works. Those two, your parents. All they done was quarrel and bicker and yet they ended up with each other."

Rose looked like she would faint. Didn't the Hat realise that everyone can hear him?

"Oh, pardon me, dear. This is once in a lifetime opportunity, after all."

'Yes, once in a lifetime and I am greatly embarrassed. Just shut—' She thought, but she realised that she sounded rude, so instead, 'Please proceed to the ceremony. Please, please, please.'

"Believe me, a lot of people are ruder than you. Now, hmm… "

Rose stared down at her fingers or at the brim of the Hat. She wondered whether the Hat was being cleansed. She started wondering a lot of things, but she stopped herself. Not here. Not in front of everyone.

"Hufflepuff would be proud to have you… With all this kindness and the sense of seeing good in others… Yes, Hufflepuff would do you good... But, what is this? Imagination and intellect from your mother… Ravenclaw would be a good choice for you, too…"

She didn't really care where to go, but she wanted to be a Gryffindor because it was where her parents were. But, a different house would be okay, too. As long as she was aloud to be read books and write and dream, she will be fine.

At first, she disliked Slytherin. But, her cousin was there, and he may be needed someone with him.

"But, courage to be different… So much determination and willpower to be different… Gryffindor would love to have you."

'Gryffindor? Would I regret it?'

"Oh, child. Don't ask me."

'What trait does me good?' She wondered. 'Then, place me in that house.'

"Ah… well then… GRYFFINDOR!"

Sighing, she smiled and her eyes found the table of people standing and cheering. She looked for her cousins and they were in the middle, but she was too shy to walk all the way to the middle, so instead, she sat in front. Alone.

She was in her daydreams when she heard the last three students being sorted.

"Yaxley, Grant!"… "SLYTHERIN!"… "Zabini, Anthony!"… "SLYTHERIN!" and "Zuniga, Bella!"… "HUFFLEPUFF! "

After the announcement of names, Professor Neville immediately went to the staff table and drank three glasses of water.

Everyone laughed at him— but not because of pity or because they underestimate him. It was because this happened every year, and it was sort-of entertaining to watch.

* * *

**Footnote: Just joking, it's no footnote, really. I just want to say that I posted a Next Generation one-shot entitled **_**Hear Me Out**_**. Um, if you wanted to read something because you're bored, then please read this one-shot! Thanks! Oh, and the Sorting Hat song was made by my cousin! Don't you think it's awesome?**

— **Jamie**


	3. — Lady of Songs and Friendships —

**A Witch's Parchment: Hullo, guys. I am back, again! Yey! I apologise for the late update, because our internet connection was such a mess these past few days. I'm very sorry! So I just watched LOTR (I know! I know! How dare I!?) and I got the inspiration from Lady of Light to create this character. I already love her, ahahahah. **

**Disclaimer: I can barely survive **_**life**_**, much less create a million more.**

* * *

— **3 — Lady of Songs And The Friendships**

"She looks scary!"

"I bet she eats our souls for breakfast."

"Riley! How rude! I bet she's McGonagall's illegitimate sister. Do you think her father cheated on Lady Tremaine's mum?"

"Why do we have to have scary people to be our teacher? She's even scarier than the subject itself!"

Whispers followed the announcement of the new teacher. A lady with an unknown age stood up, her icy blue eyes scrutinized every glance, or any eyes that met hers. Unlike McGonagall's hair, hers wasn't piled on the top of her head; instead, her white hair softly flowed on her back. A blue gem with such radiance winked in the light the floating candles produced. It was in a shape of what looked like a graceful songbird, her mouth opened with sliver lines coming out of it, as if the song was already there. The lady was, just like her embellishment, graceful as it can be. Her face looked like it was carved out of a fine looking porcelain, although it was filled with coldness. She looked almost ethereal to the point that the students expected her to have wings sprouting out of her back.

She was such a beauty to look at, but at the same time, she had a certain air of chilliness lurking around her.

The students didn't have to listen to her speak, or to command them to say that she was, indeed, menacing. In fact, they were already too scared that they didn't have trouble remembering her name. She was Efrea Tremaine, known as the Lady of Songs by the eastern region of the world, and she was there to teach the students about Defense Against Dark Arts.

McGonagall kept herself from rolling her eyes. Efrea was a dear friend to McGonagall, so she knew that she was merely scaring the students by showing her 'internal beauty'. Her suspicions were correct when she glanced at her, a small smile playing on her lips.

"And, eat up! You will need it for your classes tomorrow! But, before we present the food, I would like to give you a few reminders." Professor McGonagall said, her eyes scanning through the hungry students. "As usual, the Forbidden Forest is not to be visited, since there are certain things that live there, and not even I know the whole lot of it. Second, the list of banned objects is displayed at the door of Mr. Filch's office. Deduction of house points will be the result. Thirdly, the Whomping Willow is strictly off- limits to all. And, lastly," She glared at James, William and Fred, who were innocently playing with what looked like a slicing disk— which was nearly on the top of the list of the banned objects in Hogwarts. "Borrowing of wands is not allowed, _especially_ for entertainment purposes. But before I end this, I would like to say a couple of words: Licorice Wands, Chuddling Canons, and Peppermint Paper. Thank you."

"She's gone mad, that woman." Scorpius Malfoy heard a Slytherin 5th year said. "You remember the time when a rumor was spread that she was seen snogging a portrait in her room?"

"Beatrice, I don't think that was a rumor." A boy with blonde hair and crooked nose retorted. "Craziness run the place. The last headmaster— Aldus or something— he makes the most bullocks people the Head girl and Head boy."

Beatrice opened her open, not to agree, but to squeal with glee when the empty table, plates and glasses were filled with various foods and beverages.

'_Perfect,_' Scorpius dryly thought. '_I'm supposed to start thinking like them, then._'

He scooped a bit of mushroom soup and sipped it, appreciating the appetizer for this wasn't served in the Malfoy Manor. He put a little of all the food in their table, smartly eating them all before the food disappears and to be replaced with desserts.

He was eating when Grant Yaxley elbowed Scorpius in the head.

"Ah," Scorpius grimaced. He brought up his right hand to rob the back of his head.

"You deserve that." Grant said, his nose high up in the air. "If I'd known you were a Malfoy, I wouldn't have even gone inside that filthy compartment of yours, _blood traitor_."

Scorpius, who was being glared by almost everyone in the table, licked his tongue across his lips, and exhaled. He wasn't going to stoop that low to a person who would hurt him because he was a Malfoy.

"What? You aren't gonna fight back? Too coward, that you are! Just like your family!"

"Shut up, Yaxley." The boy beside Scorpius exclaimed. Everyone was either confused or glaring at the boy, because he was someone to be glared upon by those who disliked his father, and his family, and his name. But, he wasn't a traitor of any sort. He was just the son of the Boy Who Lived.

"Yeah," Grant huffed. "But, what if I don't want to?"

"Yeah, what if you don't want to? Well, I'm pretty sure a professor would love to have you in detention first thing tomorrow morning. Besides, there are too many people to witness whatever you plan to do. " Albus calmly said.

Grant was speechless, but he was seething with hate. One of these days, he'll make Albus regret what he did.

"Whatever, Potter." Grant said, and he made his way to the end of the table and sat down. His friends glared at the two, bringing up their hands and showed a rude gesture.

Scorpius was confused. He was sure that his parents and Albus's were enemies when they were younger, but here he was grateful and embarrassed by the boy's saving.

He didn't want to say something, but he knew he had to. A simple 'thank you' would've done the trick, but then again, he barely knew this boy.

'_And yet he defended you.' _A voice inside his head said. _'He barely knows you, too.'_

He had a pride to nurse, that he knew. Besides, his grandfather despised Potters and Weasleys for that matter. He merely joined them in the boat ride because he'd rather spend time with them than see people stare at him with so much contempt.

_'Exactly, Scorpius,' _the voice interrupted his thoughts. _'That Rose girl, even gave you a cake, remember? And, you ate it! You _like _it! Be nice, dear. They welcomed you a while ago, and—'_

_'Okay! I get it! Shut up!' _He mentally grumbled. His conscience was right in one point. He _should_ say thank you. _'Oh, screw it! I'll just make sure Grandpa wouldn't know about what happened.' _

"Thank you." Scorpius mumbled, his eyes on his food. He waited for the boy's response at the corner of his eyes.

Meanwhile, Albus smiled. Scorpius was surprised but he didn't show it.

"But, you don't have to do that." The blonde boy added said. "I don't need your help."

'_And, will probably never need it. I can defend myself, thank you very much.' _

"You don't, but I do." Albus said. Scorpius could barely contain his bewilderment. "Here, let's have a deal."

Scorpius suspiciously looked at Albus. Albus was a Potter— and it was quite obvious because he looked a lot like his father. Wild black hair and the glaring green of his eyes— same with Harry Potter.

He was short for their age. His body build was small and nimble— a good body frame for a seeker.

And his eyes… Scorpius can always say if the person was to be avoided at. Although his father contained a bit of that sharp edged evil it brings— he still loved him.

But, Albus. He didn't have that sharp- edged glare, the one that can cut through wood. His eyes were wise, and curious. It was the eyes of an old man stuck inside a body of a child.

So, he nodded cautiously. Besides, he was lying a whilst ago. He _did_ need his help. He needed _someone_ to help him.

'_It wouldn't hurt me if we made a deal. Maybe, I'll get something from here. It's not like he'll stab me in the back while I'm sleeping.'_

"Right," Albus replied cheerily. "We will have each other's back. And… Probably help each other around. Especially that we're in Slytherin. So, a deal?"

Scorpius assessed the situation in his head. He didn't need to be personally close with Albus. Besides, this was a win-win situation for the two of them. Nothing can go wrong…

"Deal." Scorpius hesitantly said.

Albus smiled, and continued eating. After all, they weren't friends. He wasn't about to ask Scorpius personal questions just because of a deal.

"Hello, I am Rachael Helther. I believe you are Rose Weasley?" A girl with blonde hair and stunning green eyes purred. Or it sounded like purring.

She was beautiful, her hair straight, and without a single strand of her out of line. Her lips were lush, her cheeks were rosy and her eyes were shaped like those of cats. Rose sat straighter. She wasn't used to random people talking to her.

"Yes. I am Rose Weasley." Rose forced a smile. Rachel nodded, and twirled her hair with her finger. Looking down at her food, she knew that she was being watched. Her alarms were suddenly blaring, and her guards were already on red code when Rachel airily said, "You're beautiful."

Rose laughed, confusion was obvious in her voice. She was barely called beautiful. She wouldn't call herself beautiful or elegant, because she had her red bushy hair, and her plain dull eyes.

Now, Rachael... She was probably the epitome of the word beauty. Not that Rose was jealous. She can be insecure, but she was fine with her physical looks, unlike a lot of girls.

"Thanks?"

Rachael smiled, her white teeth gleamed as if it was Scourgified a dozen times.

"And, because you're beautiful, you are my friend now, right?"

_'What?' _Rose thought. _'Is she kidding? I barely talk to her, and she already wants me to be her friend?'_

Rose didn't know how to answer. She wanted to say 'Maybe?' but, Rachael looked so confident that she didn't want to spoil the fun. She was also flabbergasted by her nonchalant manner of making friends. She wasn't really sure she can trust Rachel, yet. But she was the first person in three years who had willingly wanted her to be a friend…

She nodded, and smiled. "Sure."

Across the hall, in the Ravenclaw table, sat Alexandra. She was squashed between a fifth year and a first year. The first year introduced herself as Regina Blackwood, and she tried talking to Alexandra, but the latter girl was too busy hyperventilating. Regina must have decided that Alexandra was too nervous to talk. Oh, no, how wrong was she. Alexandra wasn't nervous. She was terrified, scared stiff, petrified and all the words that had the same meaning with horrified. She was sorted into Ravenclaw, and she was grateful at first. But, now that she realised that she wasn't around her two friends, she wanted to be buried six feet under the ground, already.

Not only was she feeling inferior around the higher grades, she already felt like her whole life was being mapped out. In fact, if you read her thoughts, you'd know how far she was from Earth. She sounded like she was living through what Muggles call "Hell".

_'Me! A Ravenclaw! I am not a Slytherin! I am a Ravenclaw! Hahah!' _

'_Wait, what? Rose is in Gryffindor? She's too smart to be in Gryffindor!'_

_ 'Okay, calm down. There's still Albus, but… Wait. He went before me. He went _before _me! Where is he?!' _

_ 'No. Way. He's in Slytherin?! A SLYTHERIN?! How did he land himself in there? Oh, Merlin! What did I tell him before? He's a traitor in disguise! Alexandra, how can you be so stupid?'_

_ 'Okay, you're a Ravenclaw, remember? Act mature. You'll be fine. Just avoid him. Avoid Albus… SCORPIUS?! He's there too?! Okay, don't faint. Just… Stick to Rose. Yes. She's the only one I can trust.'_

_ 'I just realized how pathetic I sound right now. Come on, Alexandra. You're a Ravenclaw. Think like an old man.'_

_ 'Oh, Merlin… Everyone's expecting to be smart!' _

She buried her head in her hands.

Since she was a Ravenclaw, she was expected to be smarter than anyone, or wiser than anyone. She might have escaped Slytherin and all its horrors, but there was another burden for her to carry.

Keeping her head down, she grabbed a leg of roasted turkey and took a bite. The juice immediately made her gums ached since they weren't used to such luxury food. She tore through the leg without mercy.

'If _I should be smart_,' she thought. '_Then, I might as well make myself comfortable and healthy._'

She continued gobbling her food, as if it was her oxygen. However, she was oblivious to the watching eyes of a boy around her age.

"Woah, calm down! I am pretty sure the turkey would've killed itself when it found out that you'll eat its leg like a hybrid canine, or something." Alexandra looked up in surprise. The person who spoke to her was sitting across the table, his hair as dark as the night sky, and his eyes as brilliant as the sky in a cloudy day. They were light blue, filled with so much happiness Alexandra already disliked how happy this person was.

_'Bloody git, calling me a canine.'_

She glared at him, and chose to focus on the food instead of entertaining the happy-go-lucky guy.

"What? What did I do?" The boy asked, his smile irritating Alexandra further more.

"Shut up." Alexandra said, whilst she sewed her knife through her string beans.

"Shut up? Oh, you must be thinking about how rude I am, aren't you? Since, you all British people like courtesy and all that 'rubbish'"

Alexandra shook her head and blurted out a no. She took note of his accent, and noticed that it wasn't British. By this, she found herself growing more annoyed by the minute. This boy was pretending to be British. How pathetic.

Despite the wrong guess, the boy smiled and cheerily said, "I am Jonathan Crawford. And you are?"

_'I don't care. Get away from me.' _

"None of your business." Alexandra edgily snapped. Her response only made the boy smile wider.

"Ooh, sassy. You know, I read this book about this guy named Percy and he was always called 'Persassy' by the fans of the fandoms?"

"So? What's your point?" '_I. Don't. Bloody. Care.' _She thought while gritting her teeth.

"Do you even have any idea what 'fandoms' is?" Jonathan questioned.

She didn't know. Oh, Merlin, she didn't know. And she felt embarrassed about it. Here she was in Ravenclaw, and she can barely survive five minutes without knowing something.

"No. Should I know?"

Jonathan gasped. "You don't know? You don't know what 'Fandoms' is? What is your life?"

Alexandra choked on her mashed potato, and she drank some pumpkin juice. '_Who was he to question about my life?'_ "Better than yours! Besides, I am sure that it isn't common knowledge."

"You might be right," Jonathan mused. "Oh well, I guess living in America has its own advantages."

'_America?_' Alexandra thought. '_Oh… Odd accent, right._'

Jonathan caught up to what Alexandra was thinking. He loved it when he gets this kinds of reactions from girls.

"Oh, curious now, are you? Well, British gals love American lads. Am I right, m'lady?" Jonathan winked.

"No. Now, why don't you ignore me and flirt with older people, instead? You're too young for flirting, anyhow."

"What is the matter with you, _Granny?_ Don't know how to flirt do you, since no one would even think of speaking to you?" Satisfied with the reaction he got, Jonathan turned to his right, and started flirting with a beautiful Ravenclaw with black hair and brown eyes.

_'Calm down.' _Alexandra thought. _'Calm down, Alexandra. At least he's not those Slytherin and Ravenclaw cousins of yours. So what if you're not attractive? So what if you don't act like a girl half of the time? Oh, bloody hell!'_

She felt the suffocating press in her throat. She needed to get away from the place as fast as possible. She felt like the walls were slowly pressing into her, and she suddenly felt like the whole world was laughing at her.

Closing her eyes, she heard the laughter of the fifth year beside her. And the laughter of about ten more people. She was right. They were laughing at her. Oh, no, they weren't, really. She just thought of it that way.

She clumsily stood up and walked away, leaving her food behind. She wasn't going to cry there. She wasn't going to be embarrassed for just a little petty insulting statement.

But she was about to cry, and she already felt the tears stinging at the corner of her eyes.

* * *

"So, favorite song?" Rachael asked.

"Spell caught." Rose muttered.

"Oh, that's a nice song. '_If my roses turned to black, and the string was never cut; then your dark words brought me back, 'cause you got me spell caught._' Romantic, very romantic. But, very dark, too."

"Yeah," Rose tucked a stray hair behind her ear. "I guess so."

"Hmm … You're a fan of dark love, aren't you?" Rachael asked, her eyes observing Rose.

Meanwhile, Rose's cheeks tinted pink. She looked away and saw a few boys whispering among themselves while they stared at Rachael.

"We got ourselves a hopeless romantic!" Rachael sang. They were interrupted from their laughter when a boy from the group of whispering boys approached them, "Should you want to go out with me these coming Hogsmeade weekend?"

Rose's eyes widened like two Galleons. They didn't even know each other's name!

"I'm sorry." Rachael purred, her eyes glittering. "A boy already asked me."

"Oh…" The older boy turned his head down in disappointment. Rose was literally beside herself. How can Rachael say no so casually, without thinking about the consequences of the boy's side? And, she lied!

"Well, er… See you around, then." And with his eyes trained to the ground, he walked away.

Rose wanted to say something, but she didn't want to upset her new found friend. How can she just?

"It's alright. Speak." Rachael smiled, gracefully cutting a small piece of roasted turkey into pieces.

"Okay… No offense, but what you did— it was, er… rude. I'm sorry!"

Rachael stiffened; her hands paused midway across her plate. Rose watched her count from one to ten, her eyes closed and her hands shaking.

"It was quite offensive," She calmly set her utensils down and turned to Rose. The warm glow of her eyes was gone, replaced by something else. "But, since you're my _friend_… I guess I'll let you slip this once."

_'Slip this once?'_ Rose thought. _'Why did she mention me like that?'_

And, without a word, Rachael stood up, glared at Rose and picked up her makeup bag. She walked away, her blonde hair swishing, catching the attention of the boys she walked pass by.

Rose was... flabbergasted. She was alone. In the middle of the Great Hall. Without anyone to talk to. She looked down at her food. She should apologise. She didn't know how she offended Rachael, but whatever she said was probably bad enough that her friend walked out without her.

Standing up, she swung her right leg over the bench, and then the other. As soon as she was free from the bench, she ran. People were curious about the turn of events. A while ago, a girl with curly blonde hair from Ravenclaw just ran out of the Hall.

Embarrassed by the attention she was getting, she shook her head and tried her best to ignore the eyes of people on her.

She was approaching towards the door of the Grand Hall when Rose saw Rachael. She jogged after her, and called her name. However, when she turned a corner, Rachael was nowhere to be seen. She was simply _gone_ like a ghost.

Rose ruefully sighed. She was such a horrible person for offending Rachael. Merlin, let the ground swallow her now.

She was passing a corridor with portraits of knights when she saw a flash of blonde hair in her peripheral vision. She twisted her neck and stared at the faint outline of a girl slipping inside a room.

Alexandra ran. She needed to get to the bathroom as fast as possible. She can't risk people seeing her cry like a wee baby, feeling so petty and stupid for crying over such a boy. Or his words getting to her.

She felt like she was in her home again, always crying or always hiding. She didn't know what she was doing more— showing her emotions or displaying a poker face.

All she knew was she felt horrible and terrible and everything she felt whenever her uncle and cousins would tease her about something so mean and accused her of being odd.

_'Hello. What are you doing?' Alexandra asked, her fingers nervously twirling her hair around them. She wanted to join her cousins with playing. Of course, who wouldn't be when you're six years old?_

_ 'None of your business.' Jeanine, a Slytherin girl of age twelve, haughtily said. 'What are you doing here?'_

_ 'Are you going to play Exploding Snaps? May I… join you? ' Alexandra meekly asked. She felt hopeful. After all, her cousins were fairly nicer these past few days. Any action that wasn't involved in the list of teasing, pranking, snapping, and snarling were considerably nicer._

_ 'No. Mother told us to be nice to you, because your little sister just died. But, if it weren't for Mother, we wouldn't be speaking to you. Speaking, we can do. Playing? No. We don't want to play with you.' Amber— a Ravenclaw girl, age thirteen— said._

_ 'Besides,' added Bruno— a Slytherin boy and a prefect. He had a scar running from his eyebrow to the edge of his lip. 'We wouldn't want to play with wee little babies like you. You're a Muggle.'_

_ 'Well,' Alexandra straightened her stance and tried her best to erase any emotions from her face. 'You could've, at the very least, stop playing. You're at Vivien's funeral. You should respect the dead. '_

_ Bruno barked a laugh. 'The dead, indeed.'_

Alexandra turned around a corner and found a door, when she heard footsteps. She quickly slipped through the door and took note that she was, fortunately, in the bathroom.

She went into a stall and sat down on the toilet, her knees up and her shoulders shuddering. The tears quickly followed, and her lungs were a mess from all her silent sobbing.

What was she expecting? Paradise? She knew how much pain she was in her home; how much different was this strange new place?

Her sobs were louder than before. She wanted to jump off a ledge and free fall to her death, but she didn't want to die yet. Somehow, she felt that life has so much more beautiful things to offer.

But that feeling was slowly melting away. There were a thousand times the opportunity of something good to come to her had come and yet, here she was, pathetically spending her first night in Hogwarts alone.

Until a knock on her stall door was heard.

"Hey," A familiar voice said. "May I come in?"

Alexandra was surprised and grateful at the same time. Rose saw her? Had anyone in the hall seen her passing by?

"It's Rose, um, if you're wondering."

"No." Alexandra said, her voice muffled.

"Oh, okay…Alexandra." The other girl replied. "I'll be right here."

Alexandra nodded, although Rose can't see her. She continued sobbing, and it felt so good. All the negative energy inside her—the tension, the stress, the hatred. All of it. She was a shell of negativity, and she wanted to empty herself up to her fullest extent possible.

Rose sighed. She wanted to sit down so that she can rest her feet. Groaning, she looked down and inspected the floor and did a quick scourgify spell to clean it. She, then, sat down and entertained herself by releasing colourful sparks, smoke and cotton out of her wand.

After that, she began worrying about Alexandra who was quiet for a while with the exception of small squeaky hiccups and sniffling. She didn't expect to see Alexandra. She was expecting Rachael, but what she didn't expect the most was Alexandra _crying_. She never perceived Alexandra as the type of person who cries.

She started colouring the floor tile with blue when Alexandra said, "Rose?"

Rose jerked up. She quickly stood up and walked near to the door of the bathroom stall. She leaned in and stuck her ear to it.

"Yes?"

"Thank you." Rose ruefully smiled. Although she wished that Alexandra would finally stop crying.

With her voice laced with sarcasm, she answered, "You're not welcome."

Alexandra managed a laugh, her throat dry.

Rose was wise and sensitive enough to not ask Alexandra about it. She respected her personal space, and for Rose, that was what matters. In a house filled with people, the thing she valued the most was privacy. She knew more than anyone how suffocated one feels when there were too people watching. She knew that Alexandra would tell her if she needed someone to listen to her.

"Rose?"

Her train of thought stopped for a while.

"Yes?"

"Am I really welcome?"

"Yes. You are always welcome." She replied, her voice patient like her mother's voice. She wanted to make sure that Alexandra knew that she would be there whenever Alexandra needed her.

"Really?"

"Yes."

The stall door opened, and out came Alexandra. Her hair was disheveled, her eyes stingy red and her face flushed.

Rose noted all of this with her heart crushed. She felt like crying, really. She wanted to comfort Alexandra, give her everything to cheer her up, maybe risk herself getting into a detention or two.

'_This girl deserves so much more_,' Rose thought. Albus and Rose both knew that Alexandra has a secret to keep. There was one time when the topic had somewhat drifted into topics about families, and much to their surprise, Alexandra became extremely temperamental over it.

Albus saw greatness in Alexandra. He saw how smart she was, and how strong her will was. Whilst, Rose wanted to empathize with Alexandra, because she observed how sad she felt and the look in her eyes. It was envy she saw. Envy and sadness.

If there was anything Rose can do for Alexandra, it was to be her friend.

"Uh…Thanks." Alexandra tried her best to make herself look presentable.

Rose laughed. "Stop looking at me like that."

"Looking at you like what?"

"As if I am the weirdest person you've met."

Alexandra was taken by surprise Those were her exact words!

"How?"

Rose fingered a beautiful necklace around her neck, which Alexandra had only noticed right at that moment. "It's the same with everything."

"Wha– What?"

There she was again, laughing as if Alexandra said the funniest thing in the world. Annoyed, Alexandra made another mental note: '_Completely nutters and a complex person. Hard to understand_.'

"Nothing." Rose mused, her smile turned into a rueful one. "If you're going to be my friend, then be used to word 'bonkers'. Trust me."

And, without another word, she left.

Alexandra was amazed. Jaw-drop astounded. She wasn't used to being shocked, and for her that was a record in the making. If Rose was the type of person who can make the waterfall of tears stop in ten seconds because of some strange comment, she shouldn't be too surprised.

* * *

"What do you think you are doing, Albus Severus Potter! Landing yourself in Slytherin! Of all houses?!" Victoire cried out. "And, don't even get me started on—"

"Merlin, Victoire!" James stuck his little finger to his ear and 'cleaned it'. "You just disabled the ability of hearing of about every people around you and those who are from all the way to Africa. _Impressive_."

"And because of that," Will continued James's thoughts, cheerfully. "You received the Most Annoying Person of The Year Award!"

"Wow!" Victoire feigned. "How sweet? And because of that, you will be receiving Mum's Going To Shout At You in The Middle of The Bloody School Award! And that includes you, William."

"Why am I not surprised?" Albus sighed. Even if he was greatful for the lackness of attention on him, he still found the whole thing annoying and amusing at the same time. Back home, a family reunion will never be a reunion if the two didn't bicker.

"Play fair, Ms. Weasley! You know—"

"Why should I play fair? I didn't help them set the dungbomb this time!" Rose piped in, her light casual tone caught William off guard. He thought that Rose was too serious to joke with because she was 'Ms. Grandmother Hen' according to James.

Victoire narrowed her eyes. "So you _finally_ admitted that that was you?"

Rose gave Victoire a sly smile and shrugged, "Dunno. What do you think?"

"Why is Ms. Minister holding a reunion in the middle of the bloody Slytherin table?" Dominique strutted, her right eyebrow raised.

"Oh great," William uttered. "The Queen Bitch came."

Louis, who suddenly appeared out of nowhere, laughed.

"You're not a Weasley, or a Potter." Dominique glared at William. She had more patience than this, but he ruined her Yule Ball dress last year. That act was simply unforgivable.

"Yes," James smirked. He saw the look on Will's face that shouted '_MISHIEF AND SASS!_'.

"And, you're not that smart, too." Will winked at Domique. He knew he won that round. Dominique's eyes went wide and were filled with so much heat that he expected her to start shooting lasers from her eyes. She stomped and sashayed away, mumbling sentences among the lines of 'Twelve year olds', 'Made to ruin her life' and 'Too mischievous for their own _damn_ good. '

"Are you two finish with your rambling?" Victoire pressed two fingers against the bridge of her nose. She swore that boy will be the death of her. They didn't need another James in this school.

"Not quite," James answered. He faced William and brought up his right hand. "High five, girlfriend!"

"High five!" Will replied, his voice a hundred octaves higher. He did the Muggle gesture. Ever since Hermione bought a 'Venti' sized 'Frappucino' from 'Starbucks'— a Muggle cafe of some sort— the two can't help but to be fascinated about everything that has anything to do with Muggles. So everything Muggles do, the two studied about it and learned it to annoy as many people as possible.

"Now," Victoire gritted her teeth. "Are you two done?"

"Least likely," Albus muttered and he saw Rose and Louis rolling their eyes in reply.

"Done?!" James looked at the 17- year old with so much sarcasm. "Oh. My. God! Jennifer!"

William made a show of fanning James using his hands. "What is it, Brittany?! You looked like you have your period today!"

"Have you heard about James Potter? He's sooo cute! I sooo call dibs on him!"

"What are you talking about, Shelley?! Have _you_ seen _William Wood_? Total H-O-T-T-I-E! "

Rose can't contain her laughter anymore, so she burst into twinkling laughter.

"Stop! STOP!" Victoire grabbed a few of her hair and pulled at it. "Listen, James Sirius Potter. You, too, William Oliver Wood! Stop this ludicrous nonsense or ten points from Gryffindor!"

"What did I miss?" Fred Weasley II came, a mischievous light in his eyes evilly glinted. "Queen Bitch left the party looking like an overripe tomato with ADHD. Dear cousins, do tell me, please."

"Do you even know what 'ADHD' means?" Victoire dryly asked. "And, will you ever _quit_ on using foul words? Merlin, if Grandmum knew, she'll have your tongues on display."

"Victoire, Victoire, darlin'," Fred patted her shoulder. "I have a few spiked Licorice Wands. Want some?"

"Fred, please. Don't follow the leads of the Twat and the Daft." Victoire pleaded. "I don't understand how a 12 year old kid spiked a delicacy, and neither can I understand why you started to sodding curse on Dominique! Is there by any chance I can revive some sanity here?"

"Too late for that," Louis interjected. "Key word is 'Spiked', remember?"

Rose and Albus nodded. Louis snaked his hands to a plate of one Slytherin girl, grabbed a treacle tart and winked at her, while James turned around, stuck his butt out and said, "Can you check if there's, like, blood on my bum? I don't like it when I'm, like, bleeding on my pants!" William looked at James' buttocks and sighed. Instead of checking if there's any blood stains, he checked out James' _buttocks._ "None, darling. Although, I'd like to check out that delicious bum of yours!"

Louis choked on his treacle tart when James giggled.

"I am starting to regret at being Head Girl. For Merlin's sake, I think I'll approach Professor McGonagall later to tell her that I am having doubts." Victoire murmured.

"Aww," Fred Weasley, another Fred and another person to annoy Victoire, cooed as he floated upside down. But he really wasn't a person, since he was half transparent and pretty much dead. "How are you, my li'l Freddy? How's Georgey doing? Not beating himself up since he can't do the joke shop without me, eh?"

The small group may not notice it, but they were attracting attention. Not only was the Slytherin table glowering at them, and not only were the teachers, listening to the not-so-quiet conversation, but the whole Hall fell silent.

"He isn't doing that, Uncle Freddie. But, he will be when he realised I stole his whole supply of Skiving Snackboxes." Small Fred beamed, whilst Ghost Fred shot off, guffawing whilst giving the students the uncensored view of his throat. "Oh, and placed a few everlasting dungbomb here and there."

Victoire was beyond livid. Rose and Albus swallowed and tried sneaking off, but William threw his arms around Rose and chirped, "Oh, _dear! _Look at that _ghastly, horrible, acrimonious_ hair of yours!" Rose casted a death glare to William. She certainly didn't need anyone telling her how _acrimonious _her hair was. She can see it every single day.

"You were the one who did that?" Victoire asked, her voice was so measured and controlled that Freddie the Ghost whimpered in fear and hid behind Hagrid, who didn't really mind because he was a close friend of his.

"Er," Small Freddie laughed nervously. "Rose did that, right? She said so?"

Even if the Slytherins were not happy to find a bunch of Gryffindors in their midst, nevertheless they were quite amused.

Rose was too busy daydreaming about _A Hundred Ways to Kill William Wood, the Movie Part 1_ when James nudged her.

"Uh," Rose looked around and blurted out the first thing that came into her mind "I didn't do it!?"

It was quite obvious to everyone that she has no idea what she was talking about, but Victoire was too 'thick' — courtesy of James Sirius Potter— to realise.

"Fred?!" Victoire fumed. "Tell me the truth, and you will be spared."

Fred II audibly gulped and threw a pleading look at Rose.

Rose stared back, telepathically saying no. She wouldn't risk herself getting killed by the reincarnation of Voldemort.

But then, she pitied Fred into being hexed into a frog-looking _thing._

"Victoire, calm down—" Rose said, a fail attempt to lower the blow.

"Calm _down_? " Victoire's hand shook. "Do you know how mad Mum was? Do you know how much mess you made? _He _kept me from doing important things!"

"Oh, so that's what she calls 'Doing the frick-frack caddywack with Teddy', nowadays." James piqued, his left eyebrow raised.

"James!" Rose hissed. She would've laughed if she wasn't too scared at Victoire. That boy had a knack of saying inappropriate things in an inappropriate time.

"Better than '_Hump_hrey', don't you think?" Louis nonchalantly said as James shook himself to death with laughter. Louis can be serious, but whenever he was around James, all of his shrewdness crumbles down into tiny little bits of dog treats.

Rose looked so scared for the two. She experienced the other side of the Wrath of Victoire Weasley, the half- Veela. If there was one adjective that can almost make the cut about how scary she was, it was the word 'Bloody'.

"Victoire, I'm sorry, really." Rose pleaded. She didn't want the situation to get worse, since the three people didn't take her seriously. Trust me, she knew exactly what Victoire was feeling. "I know they deserve being scolded, but why don't you do it later?"

The Head Girl's eyes flashed. "And, why should I do that?"

Rose awkwardly looked around and saw the eyes of every student on them. "You see, we are sort of—"

_BAM! _

The huge doors of the Great Hall banged open, startling the students and teachers. The ghosts seemed to jump, too, if that was possible.

A man with a violet turban ran in the middle of two Hogwarts houses and frantically shouted, "TROLL! IN THE DUNGEONS! THERE'S A TROLL IN THE DUNGEONS!"

There was a moment of silence. They all stared at the man, shocked. However, the similarities of their expression stopped there.

To all the students, they panicked over the idea that a troll was inside their school, and they were greatly terrified that the monster would break their bones for bread to eat.

The teachers were, very much, hyperventilating. This was impossible. Very, very, very impossible. No one can ever come back from the dead. No one, ever.

But, this, this —whatever this was! It was beyond any magic!

"Just thought you'd want to know," And, right then, he fainted, but he never quite touched the floor, since he went through it. His unconsciousness was timed with a great, mighty slash of lightning across the ceiling of the Great Hall, that made the almost everyone scream in fright.

Helena Ravenclaw fainted, while Nearly Headless Nick almost wanted to rip his head off, never wanting to believe what had just happened.

Fred the ghost was already passing through students and trying to get to the man with a turban.

There was a great chaos. From the bird's point of view, everything was comically twisted. Everyone ran and scampered around like tiny little color-coded ants. The teachers were trying to gain control over the frantic crowd, but they weren't enough in number, for some of them was already on the floor, looking very pale and very much unconscious. The ghosts added to the chaos as they started screaming out ludicrous things that terrified the students even more:

"YOU KNOW WHO IS BACK!"

"WE'RE GOING TO DIE! WE SURVIVED BEFORE, BUT WE'RE GOING TO DIE AGAIN!"

"MERLIN, HELP US! I DON'T FANCY BEING PETRIFIED BY A GIANT, KILLING SNAKE, AGAIN!"

"MUMMY!"

And the chaos ensued, until a very calm Lady of Songs gracefully stood up from her chair, performed a sonorous charm and _sang_, "Silence…"

Her voice cut through the frenzy bananas of a crowd and a blanket of fear silenced them.

"Now, all the prefects will escort their corresponding houses to their common rooms." McGonagall thanked Efrea, then looked above her spectacles and gravely continued. "Only that the Slytherin house would be staying in another room for safety reasons. Professor Slughorn would escort you to the designated room. You may all go."

When no one moved, the Headmistress almost threw a fit. She, then, hissed, "Well? What are you staring at? Go on, now!"

"GRYFFINDOR, FOLLOW ME, PLEASE!" The same prefect that Scorpius and Grant encountered raised her hand. "GRYFFINDOR!"

The other prefects of different houses scampered around, trying to calm the panicking first and second years.

Satisfied with the course of action, she faced a confused professor. "Professor Slughorn, please lead the children to the unused room in the fourth floor. In a corner, you will see a portrait. The password is 'Earwax-flavored bean'—"

"Earwax- flavored—" Slughorn interjected but, McGonagall dismissed his question with an impatient wave of her hand.

"It hasn't been changed since Professor Dumbledore. Now, go!"

Professor Slughorn scurried to the Slytherins and led them out of the Hall. The Ravenclaws and Gryffindors were already scurrying to the corridors and the Hufflepuffs were wounding their way to the kitchens.

With that, the ghosts fell in line in front of the staff table. There was certain stiffness in the way they float that said they were ready to help.

"I need you to roam the corridors, and if there are strayed students, please lead them to their houses. Please, be careful." The ghosts nodded, and went away in group of twos.

McGonagall collapsed on her chair, her arms on the table, and her fingers were massaging the bridge of her nose. The rest of the teachers either joined the students, or immediately went to the dungeons to face another troll in the last three decades. The only one left was Neville Longbottom, the new teacher for Herbology, since Madame Sprout decided to rest already, and helped Neville with the job.

"Neville," Professor McGonagall said. Neville approached his mentor worriedly. He feared that maybe she would faint because of stress and her very old age. "When did this happen, again? Am I correct to presume that this happened in your first year?"

The Herbology teacher nodded, and said, "Yes, Professor. It happened when Harry and Ron went to find Hermione. It wasn't really her fault, you know? She was crying in the girls' bathroom all day."

McGonagall stood up, and walked around the staff table. "What happened? Why was she crying?"

"She was teased by Ron. He called her a nightmare in front of Seamus and Harry."

"Yes, I suppose that's right." McGonagall tiredly walked to the staircase that would lead to the dungeons when Professor Chang, a teacher with straight black hair and Asian eyes, huffed towards them. She stood straight when she saw McGonagall and dusted off the dirt on her sleeves. "Professor McGonagall! There is no need to be alarmed. There is no troll in the dungeons!"

"What? By why did—?" Neville said, but he closed his mouth when McGonagall rushed past him and opened the door to the dungeons.

The door made an eerie sound that seemed to shake the low ceiling. There were whispers floating around, raspy and sharp, at the same time. The hanging lights cast a dim light towards the walls, and when Neville saw the streak of brown on it, he hastily removed his hands and examined the dried substance. The floor was filled with green, slippery grime. There were cobwebs in every corner, and their steps echoed across the dim hall.

"Lumos," Chang held up her wand and it gave a blinding white light. "They're there."

She pointed at three faint frames of three people. McGonagall noticed a faint glow from one person and knew that it was Lady Tremaine.

McGonagall thanked the woman. She didn't like Chang, but she knew she shouldn't be rude and ignorant at the time of dire need.

The Headmistress swiftly walked to the three professors— Professor Hagrid, Professor Slughorn and Lady Tremaine.

"Efrea," McGonagall wheezed. The Lady of Songs turned around and saw McGonagall.

"Oh, Minerva, dear! There is no troll, here." Lady Tremaine broke from the group and went to McGonagall. "All of this is a false alarm from a ghost. I was tremendously worried—"

"I expected so," McGonagall closed her eyes. She supported herself by leaning on the wall. Neville transfigured a nearby candleholder into a chair, and then he helped McGonagall sit on the chair. "Thank you, Neville."

Neville nodded politely like a small kid.

"Minerva, I'm sorry to break your peace, but this is an alarming incident! That ghost! That ghost—"

Professor Slughorn frowned. He never liked to be interfered when he was speaking, however, what McGonagall said next erased all his annoyance from his mind.

"Horace, as much as I wanted to hear all your thoughts about this occurrence, I would like to correct you that he isn't what you called a 'ghost'."

There was a collective sound of gasping. Lady Tremaine was the first who voiced out her thoughts. "But, Minerva… He went through the floor…" Her calm appearance was suddenly shaken with trepidation and ambiguity, and then her hand covered her mouth. "Minerva! How did he—?"

Hagrid looked around and grunted. He seemed like the only one who didn't understand what Lady Tremaine was talking about.

"What? What d'yeh mean?"

Professor Chang sighed irritably and said, "Nothing, Hagrid. You wouldn't know—"

"He is a man," Neville glared at Cho Chang. He seemed to take a disliking to her, as well. "Or, a half- man, half- ghost. He opened the door of the Great Hall, and yet he slipped through the floor."

"Oh…" Hagrid garbled. They were all alone with their own thoughts when a strange sound was heard, and an awful smell engulfed them.

"Er…I apologise fer… yeh know." The half- giant blushed. All around him, the professors tried their best to look like they were smelling nothing, except for Chang, who dashed off, coughing and cursing away. Lady Tremaine closed her eyes and exhaled through her mouth. McGonagall, Slughorn and Neville tried to smother their coughs, but they turned to wild wheezes.

"Minerva?" Lady Tremaine opened her eyes, her blue eyes filled with amusement. She looked above her and examined the cracks in the ceiling. She watched as a spider scuttled in its web.

McGonagall wasn't coughing anymore. She was wiping off the tears that had leaked from her eyes when she was coughing. "Ye- Yes?"

"I think that it is a good idea to have a cup of tea in your office, and speak there instead." She looked at McGonagall, her glow radiated the corridor. "Don't you think, dear?"

* * *

McGonagall placed her arms on the desk and rested her head on them. Closing her eyes, she sighed, finally having peace. After the general panic and the late night conversations with the other professors, she would give _anything _just for to have a few hours of sleep. She was rather startled when a voice from her left was heard.

"Dear, Minerva. May I ask you something?" Groaning, she hesitantly opened her eyes and the twinkling eyes of Albus Dumbledore met hers. "You just did, Albus. And, before you ask, I don't have any Licorice Wands stowed in my stash. Nor do I have Chocolate Frogs, Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, Acid Pops, Pumpkin Pasties, _Puking Pastilles_, Drooble's Best Blowing Gum, or _any _sweets! You can't even eat one!"

Severus was greatly annoyed by Minerva's outburst. It was bloody eleven when that Lady of Songs and the other Professors left! Can't he get some sleep, here?

"Oh, no, Minerva! I'm simply going to ask how the Sorting had gone!" Dumbledore pulled out his wand and summoned a chair from… somewhere inside his portrait. He sat down on it, and pulled out a small box of Chocolate Frog from his robes.

Minerva almost forgot that she was ninety- three years old, or else if she did, she would've banged her head on the table.

"Minerva?" Dumbledore hummed. He pulled out the card in his box. He stared at it for a while, then jumped from his chair with delight, his eyes were filled with so much excitement as if he just won the Triwizard tournament. If he did, Minerva would understand his enthusiasm, but if he didn't, she would probably request Argus Filch to remove Dumbledore off her office and place him in an unused room, instead. "Minerva! You must see this! I got Agrippa's card! Agrippa! Can you—"

"As much as I believe you, Albus, I think _some _people would want to _sleep_!" Severus cried out. The other Headmasters and Headmistress grumpily nodded in assent. He shifted in his couch and tried his best to block out any sound using the throw pillow he borrowed from the _Ballet Lady_ in third floor. She was well known for having the most comfortable pillows. Severus agreed with the statements of the other portraits, however, the pillow can't block the sound Albus was making.

Minerva made a sound of gratitude and closed her eyes again, sighing softly. She was on the brink of falling into deep sleep when she heard Albus calling out for her name.

"MINERVA! Look at this! You have got to look at this magnificent wonder!" What was she doing again? She vaguely remembered dreaming about James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew casting a spell on her that made her sing her words throughout the whole day… "MINERVA! MINERVA MCGONAGALL!"

"No! James, Sirius, come back! Don't leave me with this loony, old, fool!" She was certain she would've cried there, right at that spot. All she wanted was to have some _hours _of sleep!

"MINERVA!"

"What?!" Minerva looked up so fast she felt her spine cracked. "What can you possibly want in—"

She glanced at the Muggle clock from the corner of the room.

"— bloody_ three in the ruddy morning_!"

She looked at Albus for an explanation. If he can fly, Minerva swore that he would've flown out of his portrait!

"Look at this!" Albus held up a magazine. Minerva rolled his eyes and glanced at the magazine, dead panned. But what she saw made her question his sanity for the millionth time in the last decade.

"_Albus_." Minerva said. "You did realize that you're holding up a _Fashion Sparkly Witch Magazine_, right?"

"Oh, yes! The clothing here is rather intriguing, although I don't suggest young witches to show more skin than articles of clothing on." He raised his right eyebrow, and flipped the page of the magazine.

"Then, why are you reading that?"

"I don't read _Fashion Sparkly Witch _Magazines, my dear Minerva. It would be simply lovely to have this beautiful pair of socks, don't you think?"

Minerva's left eye twitch with crankiness. She was struggling to say something, but her anger was just too much that she wasn't capable to do anything but gasp for air in a few seconds.

"Thi- This!" Minerva gnashed her teeth. "You WAKE ME UP ON _THREE IN THE MORNING _FOR A _PAIR OF SOCKS_?! This is what you want to show me?! THIS?"

"I remembered one time that this pair of socks was shown in the _Mirror of Erised_." Albus hummed. He fingered his beard and looked at McGonagall appraisingly.

"Albus, please. Please, _please, please!" _Minerva cried. She slumped in her seat, quite forgetting that she had her _private chambers_ because she wasn't quite herself, and she was too sleepy to care. "Just let me go to sleep… and…"

And, she slipped through unconsciousness again. Albus smiled at Minerva. He never mentioned it, but he was glad that he can still annoy her. It made him feel like he was alive again.

* * *

**Footnote: I used to ship Albus and Minerva, before… But, I don't really know what made me stop shipping them. I guess it's reading too much Gellert/Albus fan fictions? ;) Thank you for reading! I absolutely love the little random part with Albus and Minerva, because I can totally see them having that conversation. And Snape. Oh, poor annoyed Snape!**


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